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The  Rev.  JOHN  GUMMING,  D.  D.,  is  now  the  great  pulpit  orator  of  London, 
as  Edward  Irving  was  some  twenty  years  since.  But  very  different  is  the 
Doctor  to  that  strange,  wonderfully  eloquent,  but  erratic  man.  There  could 
not  by  possibility  bo  a  greater  contrast.  The  one  all  fire,  enthusiasm,  and 
semi-madness ;  the  other  a  man  of  chastened  energy  and  convincing  calmness. 
The  one  like  a  meteor,  flashing  across  a  troubled  sky,  and  then  vanishing 
suddenly  in  the  darkness;  the  other  like  a  silver  star,  shining  serenely,  and 
illuminating  our  pathway  with  its  steady  ray.  He  is  looked  upon  as  the  great 
champion  of  Protestantism  in  its  purest  form.  His  church  is  densely  crowded 
by  the  most  intellectual  and  thinking  part  of  that  crowded  city,  while  his 
writings  have  reached  a  sale  unequalled  by  those  of  any  theological  writer  of 
the  present  day.  His  great  work  on  the  "  Apocalypse,"  upon  which  his  great 
reputation  as  a  writer  rests,  having  already  reached  its  15th  edition  in  England, 
while  his  "Lectures  on  the  Miracles,"  and  those  on  "Daniel,"  have  passed 
through  six  editions  of  1000  copies  each,  and  his  "Lectures  on  the  Parables" 
through  four  editions,  all  within  a  comparatively  short  time. 


£et**\ 


LECTURES 


ON 


OUR  LORD'S  PARABLES. 


BY 


THE  EEY.  JOHN  GUMMING,  D.D. 


MINISTER   OF   THE    SCOTCH    NATIONAL   CHURCH,    AUTHOR   OP   APOCALYPTIC   SKETCHES, 
LECTCRES   ON   THE   MIRACLES,  DANIEL,  ETC.  ETC. 


^PHILADELPHIA: 
LINDSAY    AND    BLAKISTOK 
1854. 


PKEFACE. 


THIS  volume,  which  contains  an  exposition  of  the  Parables 
of  our  Lord,  especially  in  their  prospective  aspect,  will,  it  is 
hoped,  be  found  as  useful  and  instructive  as  its  predecessor. 
The  field  travelled  over  is  most  interesting  and  suggestive. 
Great  truths  are  latent  in  every  part,  waiting  for  patient  and 
persistent  application  in  order  to  emerge,  and  enlighten,  and 
cheer.  Practical  lessons  are  numerous  and  obvious.  Both  the 
one  and  the  other,  it  is  hoped,  will  be  found  intelligibly  un- 
folded in  these  pages. 

Prophecy  is  a  cartoon  of  the  future,  which  events  will  fill 
up.  Miracles  are  fore-acts  of  the  future,  done  on  a  small 
present  scale.  Parables  are  foreshadows  of  the  future,  pro- 
jected on  the  sacred  page.  All  three  grow  every  day  in  ra- 
diance, in  interest,  in  value.  Soon  the  light  of  a  Meridian  Sun 
will  overflow  them  all.  May  we  be  found  ready ! 


I 


CONTENTS. 


LECTURE  PAGE 

I.  THE  COMING  HARVEST 9 

H.  THE  GREAT  FESTIVAL 27 

III.  THE  ROYAL  FEAST 46 

IV.  A  CONTRAST 58 

V.  THE  RETRIBUTION 77 

VL  THE  VINEYARD  LABOURERS 97 

VII.  THE  FRUIT  OF  FORGIVENESS 116 

VIII.  CERTAIN  PROGRESS 126 

IX.  THE  FUTURE  SEPARATION 135 

X.  THE  RICH  FOOL 145 

XL  TRUE  RICHES 161 

XII.  THE  TWO  WORSHIPPERS 169 

XIH.  THE  TWO  WORSHIPPERS 191 

XIV.  THE  GOOD  SAMARITAN 212 

7 


8  CONTENTS. 

1ECTURE  PAGE 

XV.  THE  SON  OF  GOD ".. 230 

XVI.  THE  TW$"  GENERATIONS 251 

XVIL  FORGIVEN  AND  FORGIVING 272 

XVIII.  THE  BARREN  FIG-TREE 295 

XIX.  THE  END  OF  THE  TEAR  1848 315 

XX.  THE  LAST  RECKONING 332 

XXI.  THE  LAST  DISCRIMINATION 344 

XXII.  THE  MIDNIGHT  CRT. ..  350 


. 
LECTURES  ON  THE  PAEABLES. 


LECTURE  I. 

THE   COMING  HARVEST. 


And  he  spake  many  things  unto  them  in  parables,  saying,  Behold,  a  sower 
went  forth  to  sow;  and  when  he  sowed,  some  seeds  fell  by  the  way  side,  and 
the  fowls  came  and  devoured  them  up :  some  fell  upon  stony  places,  where 
they  had  not  much  earth:  and  forthwith  they  sprung  up,  because  they  had 
no  deepness  of  earth:  and  when  the  sun  was  up,  they  were  scorched;  and 
because  they  had  no  root,  they  withered  away.  And  some  fell  among  thorns; 
and  the  thorns  sprung  up,  and  choked  them  :  but  other  fell  into  good  ground, 
and  brought  forth  fruit,  some  an  hundredfold,  some  sixtyfold,  some  thirtyfold. 
Who  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear.  And  the  disciples  came,  and  said  unto 
him,  AVhy  speakest  thou  unto  them  in  parables  ?  He  answered  and  said  unto 
them,  Because  it  is  given  unto  you  to  know  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  but  to  them  it  is  not  given.  For  whosoever  hath,  to  him  shall  bo 
given,  and  he  shall  have  more  abundance :  but  whosoever  hath  not,  from 
him  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  he  hath.  Therefore  speak  I  to  them  in 
parables :  because  they  seeing  see  not ;  and  hearing  they  hear  not,  neither 
do  they  understand.  And  in  them  is  fulfilled  the  prophecy  of  Esaias,  which 
said,  By  hearing  ye  shall  hear,  and  shall  not  understand;  and  seeing  ye  shall 
see,  and  shall  not  perceive :  for  this  people's  heart  is  waxed  gross,  and  their 
ears  are  dull  of  hearing,  and  their  eyes  they  have  closed ;  lest  at  any  time 
they  should  see  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with  their  ears,  and  should  under- 
stand with  their  heart,  and  should  be  converted,  and  I  should  heal  them. 
But  blessed  are  your  eyes,  for  they  see :  and  your  ears,  for  they  hear.  For 
verily  I  say  unto  you,  That  many  prophets  and  righteous  men  have  desired 
to  see  those  things  which  ye  see,  and  have  not  seen  them ;  and  to  hear 
those  things  which  ye  hear,  and  have  not  heard  them.  Hear  ye  therefore  the 
parable  of  the  sower.  When  any  one  heareth  the  word  of  the  kingdom,  and 
understandeth  it  not,  then  cometh  the  wicked  one,  and  catched  away  that 
which  was  sown  in  his  heart.  This  is  he  which  received  seed  by  the  way 
side.  But  he  that  received  the  seed  into  stony  places,  the  same  is  he  that 


10  FORESHADOWS. 

heareth  the  word,  and  anon  with  joy  receiveth  it ;  yet  hath^Jje  not  root  in 
himself,  Lut  dureth  for  a  while :  for  when  tribulation  or  persecution  ariseth 
because  of  the  word,  by  and  by  he  is  offended.  Ho  also  that  received  seed 
among  the  thorns  is  he  that  heareth  the  word ;  and  the  care  of  this  world, 
and  the  deeeitfnlness  of  riches,  choke  the  word,  and  ke  becometh  unfruitful. 
But  he  that  received  seed  into  th»  good  ground  is  he  That  heareth  the  word, 
and  understandeth  it ;  which  also  beareth  fruit,  and  bringeth  forth,  some  an 
hundredfold,  some  sixty,  some  thirty. — MATT.  xiii.  3-23. 

Hearken  ;  Behold,  there  went  out  a  sower  to  sow :  and  it  came  to  pass,  as  he 
sowed,  some  fell  by  the  way  side,  and  the  fowls  of  the  air  came  and  devoured 
it  up.  And  some  fell  on  stony  ground,  where  it  had  not  much  earth ;  and 
immediately  it  sprang  up,  because  it  had  no  depth  of  earth :  but  when  the 
sun  was  up,  it  was  scorched ;  and  because  it  had  no  root,  it  withered  away. 
And  some  fell  among  thorns,  and  the  thorns  grew  up,  and  choked  it,  and  it 
yielded  no  fruit.  And  other  fell  on  good  ground,  and  did  yield  fruit  that 
sprang  up  and  increased;  and  brought  forth,  some  thirty,  and  some  sixty, 
and  some  an  hundred.  And  he  said  unto  them,  He  that  hath  ears  to  hear, 
let  him  hear.  And  when  he  was  alone,  they  that  were  about  him  with  the 
twelve  asked  of  him  the  parable.  And  he  said  unto  them,  Unto  you  it  is 
given  to  know  the  mystery  of  the  kingdom  of  God :  but  unto  them  that  are 
without,  all  these  things  are  done  in  parables :  that  seeing  they  may  see, 
and  not  perceive;  and  hearing  they  may  hear,  and  not  understand;  lest  at 
any  time  they  should  be  converted,  and  their  sins  should  be  forgiven  them. 
And  he  said  unto  them,  Know  ye  not  this  parable  ?  and  how  then  will  ye 
know  all  parables  ? — MARK  iv.  3-13. 

A  sower  went  out  to  sow  his  seed :  and  as  he  sowed,  some  fell  by  the  way  side; 
nnd  it  was  trodden  down,  and  the  fowls  of  the  air  devoured  it.  And  some 
fell  upon  a  rock ;  and  as  soon  as  it  was  sprung  up,  it  withered  away,  because 
it  lacked  moisture.  And  some  fell  among  thorns ;  and  the  thorns  sprang  up 
>vith  it,  and  choked  it.  And  other  fell  on  good  ground,  and  sprang  up,  and 
bare  fruit  an  hundredfold.  And  when  he  had  said  these  things,  he  cried, 
He  that  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear.  And  his  disciples  asked  him,  saying, 
AVhat  might  this  parable  be?  And  he  said,  Unto  you  it  is  given  to  know  the 
mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  God :  but  to  others  in  parables ;  that  seeing 
they  might  not  see,  and  hearing  they  might  not  understand. — LTJKE  viii. 
5-10. 

THE  parable  is  a  far  loftier  vehicle  of  truth  than  the 
fahle,  and  far  more  suited  to  the  character  and  lessons  of 
Jesus.  It  is  the  framework  of  a  spiritual  and  a  heavenly 
meaning,  the  network  of  silver,  containing  apples  of  gold  ; 
the  elaborately  chased  basket,  replenished  with  the  bread 
of  everlasting  life.  It  descends  from  the  skies.  It  is  a 
heavenly  utterance.  It  is  the  consecrated  messenger  of 
God.  The  fable  is  the  mere  vehicle  of  prudential  maxims, 


THE   COMING   HARVEST.  ]]. 

of  relative  and  social  action,  of  domestic  economy  and 
prudence.  It  is  the  creation  of  man — the  invention  of 
genius — the  device  of  human  benevolence.  The  first 
teaches  the  morality  and  truth  that  God  reveals  and  re- 
quires, and  so  shines  in  the  splendour  of  its  origin  and 
end ;  the  second  inculcates  the  efforts  that  man  appreciates, 
and  that  the  world  applauds.  .  They  differ  from  each  other 
as  far  as  divine  inspiration  differs  from  human  invention. 
The  only  two  fables  in  the  word  of  God  are  contained  in 
Judges  ix.  8 :  «  The  trees  went  forth  on  a  time  to  anoint  a 
king  over  them :  and  they  said  unto  the  olive  tree,  Reign 
thou  over  us.  But  the  olive  tree  said  unto  them,  Should 
I  leave  my  fatness,  wherewith  by  me  they  honour  God  and 
man,  and  go  to  be  promoted  over  the  trees  ?  And  the  trees 
said  to  the  fig-tree,  Come  thou,  and  reign  over  us.  But 
the  fig-tree  said  unto  them,  Should  I  forsake  my  sweet- 
ness, and  my  good  fruit,  and  go  to  be  promoted  over  the 
trees  ?  Then  said  the  trees  unto  the  vine,  Come  thou,  and 
reign  over  us.  And  the  vine  said  unto  them,  Should  I 
leave  my  wine,  which  cheereth  God  and  man,  and  go  to  be 
promoted  over  the  trees  ?  Then  said  all  the  trees  unto  the 
bramble,  Come  thou,  and  reign  over  us.  And  the  bramble 
said  unto  the  trees,  If  in  truth  ye  anoint  me  king  over 
you,  then  come  and  put  your  trust  in  my  shadow  :  and  if 
not,  let  fire  come  out  of  the  bramble,  and  devour  the  cedars 
of  Lebanon." — And  in  2  Kings  xiv.  9 :  "  And  Jehoash  the 
king  of  Israel  sent  to  Amaziah  king  of  Judah,  saying,  The 
thistle  that  was  in  Lebanan  sent  to  the  cedar  that  was  in 
Lebanon,  saying,  Give  thy  daughter  to  my  son  to  wife  : 
and  there  passed  by  a  wild  beast  that  was  in  Lebanon, 
and  trode  down  the  thistle."  The  first  teaches  the  folly, 
not  the  sin,  of  making  something  a  king ;  by  the  second, 
Jehoash  makes  Amaziah  see  his  pride — "  Thou  hast  indeed 
smitten  Edom,  and  thine  heart  hath  lifted  thee  up."  The 


12  FORESHADOWS. 

fable  jests  at  the  follies,  and  ridicules  the  faults,  and  taunts 
the  disappointments  of  mankind;  yet  without  responsi- 
bility or  passion.  But  the  parable  never  does  so.  It  is 
full  of  righteous  anger,  of  holy  rebuke,  and  condemnation 
of  wrong-doing ;  it  is  always  earnest,  affectionate,  solemn. 
The  fable  is  fit  for  the  instruction  of  the  heathen  that 
know  not  the  gospel,  in  the  hands  of  heathen  teachers ; 
the  parable  is  the  appropriate  instructor  of  those  who  are 
possessed  of  the  word  of  God,  and  teach  and  value  the 
things  that  belong  to  their  everlasting  peace. 

The  parable  is  also  perfectly  distinct  from  the  allegory. 
"I  am  the  true  vine" — "I  am  the  good  Shepherd" — are 
instances  of  the  allegory.  It  differs  from  the  parable  in 
this,  that  it  needs  no  accompanying  interpretation.  It 
is  either  designedly  wrapped  up  in  mystery,  or  it  is  per- 
fectly transparent  of  itself,  and  needs  no  running  or  ap- 
pended interpretation;  it  expounds  itself.  The  parable  is 
not  a  mere  elucidation  of  a  truth,  but  a  vivid  exposition 
of  it :  not  only  so,  but  it  is  a  confirmation  and  proof  of  the 
truth.  The  parable  is  a  witness  summoned  from  the  re- 
cesses of  the  outer  world,  to  attest  the  truth  and  the  reality 
of  moral  and  spiritual  things,  and  to  prove  that  by  unseen, 
but  real  roots,  the  productions  of  the  moral  and  material 
universe  cohere.  It  sounds  deep  and  mysterious  har- 
monies in  every  sphere  and  section  of  the  universe,  to 
show  that  earth  has  copies  and  prefigurations  of  heavenly 
things,  beautiful  even  in  their  ruin,  and  that  one  hand 
made  both  the  heaven  and  the  earth,  the  soul  and  the 
body,  the  nutriment  of  the  one  and  the  maintenance  of  the 
other ;  and  that  a  deep,  rich,  and  lasting  unity  runs,  like 
a  chord,  through  heaven  and  earth;  and  that  this  world, 
notwithstanding  its  defects,  is  God's  world,  yet  to  be  re- 
stored, as  this  Book,  with  all  its  excellencies,  is  God's 
Book. 


THE   COMING   HARVEST.  13 

I  believe  that  all  relationships  and  excellencies  on  earth 
are  but  dim  reflections  of  higher  and  sublimer  ones  in 
heaven.  This  corrects  a  notion  of  ours,  that  the  Scrip- 
ture representations  of  God  are  the  employment  of  merely 
human  things,  to  depict,  otherwise  incomprehensible, 
spiritual  and  eternal  things.  This  is  not  the  fact.  The 
human  is  only  the  lower  form  of  the  heavenly.  The  latter 
is  the  original,  the  former  is  the  copy.  Earth  is  the  fore- 
shadow of  the  future.  The  relation  of  the  husband  and 
wife  is  not  a  happy  human  accident  merely,  illustrative  of 
the  relationship  of  Christ  and  his  church,  but  it  is  a  copy 
exhibited  on  earth  of  the  grand  and  untouched  original  in 
heaven.  Christ  and  his  church  is  the  original,  the  hus- 
band and  wife  are  the  feeble  translation  or  the  copy. 
Christ  is  called  in  Scripture  a  King;  this  is  not  a  title 
borrowed  from  the  earth,  but  Christ  is  the  original,  and 
his  title  is  lent  to  man  in  order  to  reflect  on  earth  a  shadow 
of  the  heavenly,  a  foreshadow  of  the  future  King;  and  so 
kings  are  but  the  dim  types  of  a  higher  mystery.  Spring 
and  harvest,  sunbeam  and  rains,  are  not  the  archetypal 
things,  after  which  the  heavenly  are  formed ;  they  are  the 
mere  copies,  now  mutilated  by  sin,  of  the  holy  originals 
that  still  breathe,  and  grow,  and  bloom  in  heaven.  God 
sits  on  his  throne,  and  the  skirts  of  his  majestic  train 
stretch  over  the  whole  temple  of  creation.  Material  things 
are  the  sacred  hieroglyphs  of  heavenly  things.  The  sun 
and  stars,  and  all  things  in  creation,  are  to  a  Christian 
mind  the  teachers  of  God — lesson-books  of  his  wisdom,  his 
glory,  his  majesty,  and  his  love — blossoms,  apparent  to 
the  outward  eye,  indicative  of  the  richness  and  the  inex- 
haustible magnificence  of  that  source  which  lies  beyond 
them,  and  from  which  they  are  all  emanations.  Mere 
teachers  of  science,  ignorant  of  Christianity,  thus  enter- 
tain angels  unawares.  They  handle  things,  whose  mag- 


14  FORESHADOWS. 

nificence  they  do  not  know ;  they  study  the  relationships 
and  the  affinities  of  things,  the  moral  magnificence  and 
splendour,  and  rich  and  storied  meaning  of  which  they 
have  not  eyes  to  see,  nor  hearts  to  appreciate;  they  admire 
the  mere  typography  of  the  hook,  they  have  no  conception 
of  its  inner  and  glorious  meaning;  they  are  acquainted 
with  the  outward  mechanism  of  the  instrument,  hut 
they  have  no  idea  of,  incapable  of  hearing  as  they  are, 
its  sleeping  tones.  They  are  like  a  stranger  gazing  on 
the  wondrous  hieroglyphics  of  the  Rosetta  stone;  they 
admire  the  form  of  the  symbols,  but  they  understand  no- 
thing of  the  meaning  which  they  were  designed  to  convey. 
The  parables  are  thus  intended  to  awaken  within  us  a 
sense  of  the  glorious  truths  that  sleep  under  the  outward 
aspect  of  creation,  to  show  that  earth  is  not  yet  even  out- 
worn, and  dead,  and  destined  to  be  cast  away  as  a  worth- 
less thing,  but  that  it  is  pregnant  with  a  rich,  though 
hidden  eloquence,  carrying  in  its  bosom  grand,  divine,  but 
disguised  truths ;  that  it  has  been  injured  and  tainted  by 
sin,  and  hence  is  unable  fully  to  express  all  its  meaning, 
or  to  make  known  all  its  significance ;  so  much  so,  that  it 
groans  and  travails  in  agony,  that  it  cannot  utter  forth 
all  it  would  and  should,  or  be  emancipated  from  the  op- 
pressive powers  that  tie  its  tongue  and  weaken  its  elo- 
quence ;  but  even  in  this  state  it  is  only  the  more  ex- 
pressive shadow  of  man,  and  of  man's  being  upon  its  face. 
These  are  specimens  of  what  earth  will  be,  when  it  puts 
off  its  week-day  apparel,  its  soiled  and  dusty  garments, 
and  arrays  itself  in  its  millennial  robes,  in  its  Sabbath 
glory,  and  speaks  of  God  as  God's  own  great  evangelist, 
and  ministers  before  him  to  other  orbs  as  his  consecrated 
Levite,  when  all  that  overlays  the  truth  shall  be  swept 
away,  and  every  aspect  of  it  shall  be  translucent  with 
heavenly  light,  and  it  shall  speak  more  eloquently  than  at 


THE   COMING   HARVEST.  15 

tlie  first  what  God  is,  and  how  great  things  God  has  done. 
Creation  is  not  a  husk,  dreary,  dry,  worthless,  to  be  left 
to  rot  and  disappear  from  the  things  that  God  made ;  but 
a  subject  of  promise,  to  be  reglorified,  remoulded,  and 
share  in  the  restitution  and  restoration  of  all  things.  - 

This  teaching  by  parables  is  of  all  modes  of  teaching 
the  most  instructive  to  the  masses  of  mankind,  and  the 
most  easily  remembered.  It  gives  freshness  to  truths  that 
have  ceased  to  strike,  and  sharpness  to  sentiments  that 
have  lost  their  edge ;  it  gives  force  and  penetration  to  ideas 
that  have  been  worn  down  and  wasted  of  their  noblest 
meaning,  and  makes  those  ideas  remembered,  because  im- 
pressed on  the  memory  with  a  depth  and  a  tenacity  not 
easily  destroyed ;  so  much  so,  that  often  the  material  images 
are  retained  in  the  memory,  dim  and  unsuggestive  for  a 
season,  till  a  day  come  in  which  they  are  overflowed  with 
light,  and  speak  in  persuasive  eloquence,  and  exercise  a 
sanctifying  and  directive  power,  rich  in  the  most  precious 
issues.  They  may  be  not  fully  appreciated  or  turned  to 
any  practical  use  at  present,  remaining  like  foreign  money 
in  the  pocket,  having  no  currency  in  this  land,  but  receiv- 
ing all  its  value  the  instant  that  the  possessor  passes  into 
the  land,  the  image  of  whose  king  it  bears. 

The  parables  of  Jesus  are  almost  all  contained  in  the 
first  three  Gospels ;  the  allegories  are  nearly  all  recorded 
in  St.  John's  Gospel.  In  each  Gospel,  however,  the  para- 
bles present  themselves  with  different  aspects.  In  St. 
Matthew's  Gospel,  who  wrote  for  the  Jews,  the  kingly  and 
the  theocratic  aspect,  or  the  things  of  the  kingdom,  are 
the  most  prominent.  In  St.  Luke's  Gospel,  there  is  less 
of  the  Jewish,  and  more  of  the  human.  The  one  seems 
more  catholic  than  the  other  in  this  respect.  The  prodigal 
son  is  a  parable  for  all  humanity;  the  rich  man  and  Laza- 
rus is  full  of  instruction  for  every  age. 


10  FORESHADOWS. 

There  are  two  great  errors  in  interpreting  the  parables : 
one  consists  in  screwing  meaning  out  of  every  part,  as  if 
there  were  nothing  subsidiary  at  all ;  and  the  other  in  re- 
garding much  of  the  parable  as  merely  subsidiary,  and  to 
be  regarded  as  mere  drapery.  The  first  is  very  objection- 
able, for  the  parable  and  its  truth  are  not,  as  has  been  well 
said,  two  perfect  planes  that  touch  at  all  points,  but  rather, 
a  plane  and  a  sphere  touching  at  certain  great  points. 
Each  parable  embosoms  a  grand  design,  which  is  prominent 
and  chief  and  highest,  and  this  ought  to  be  kept  constantly 
in  view  in  interpreting  all  the  subsidiary  touches  in  the 
parable.  The  second  plan  sees  too  little  meaning  in  the 
parable ;  it  regards  much  as  merely  intended  to  make  up  a 
tale,  other  parts  to  be  mere  connecting  links,  and  some 
parts  as  rather  marring  than  bringing  out  the  end  and 
object  of  the  parable.  This  last  mode  destroys  much  of 
the  riches  of  Scripture.  Every  part  of  the  parable,  like 
every  text  in  the  Bible,  has  its  meaning  and  its  importance. 
A  perfect  portrait  has  no  parts  that  do  not  contribute  to 
the  general  effect,  and  through  every  part  life  so  glows 
and  shines,  so  much  so,  that  the  absence  of  the  minutest 
part  would  be  a  deficiency. 

In  Matthew  xiii.  3-8,  and  in  the  explanation  of  it,  we 
have  a  most  interesting  and  instructive  parable,  which  we 
proceed  to  analyze  and  unfold. 

Jesus  saw,  when  he  uttered  it,  in  all  probability,  a  Jew- 
ish sower  casting  seed  upon  the  earth.  Thousands  had 
seen  the  same  thing  before,  but  to  their  eyes  it  was  a  dead 
fact,  destitute  of  any  meaning  beyond  the  commonplace 
one  of  preparing  food  for  mankind.  Jesus  seizes  this  com- 
mon occurrence.  He  does  not  constitute  it  what  it  never 
was,  but  only  unfolds  what  it  ever  has  had,  a  precious  and 
inner  meaning,  and  proves  it,  as  all  tongues  and  tribes  and 


THE   COMING   HARVEST.  17 

kindreds  of  the  earth  have  felt,  to  be  the  material  type  and 
image  of  a  sublime  and  glorious  lesson. 

The  teacher  is  a  sower:  ideas  are  living  germs  in  husks 
or  shells  of  human  speech,  and  according  to  their  own  na- 
ture and  the  nature  of  the  soil  on  which  they  fall,  are  the 
fruits  which  they  produce.  Jesus  is  the  great  Sower  of  the 
seed.  He  came  forth  from  God,  and  from  the  storehouse 
of  infinite  beneficence  and  wisdom  and  life,  to  sow  this 
earth  with  the  living  seeds  of  truth  and  holiness  and  joy, — 
seeds  of  law  that  shall  produce  conviction,  and  seeds  of 
gospel  that  shall  produce  responsive  gratitude  and  joy  and 
love.  The  seeds  were  the  same  in  all  the  four  cases. 
Allusions  to  these  are  made  in  1  Peter  i.  23,  "Being  born 
again,  not  of  corruptible  seed,  but  of  incorruptible,  by  the 
word  of  God,  which  liveth  and  abideth  for  ever;" — and  in 
James  i.  21,  "Wherefore  lay  apart  all  filthiness  and  super- 
fluity of  naughtiness,  and  receive  with  meekness  the  in- 
grafted word,  which  is  able  to  save  your  souls."  He  sows 
over  all  fields,  for  he  accepted  the  commission  that  he  gave, 
"Go,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  Satan 
watches  all  hearts,  especially  those  that  do  not  receive  the 
truth ;  and  the  fowls  of  heaven,  like  the  evil  appetites  and 
lusts  of  humanity,  wait  to  pounce  upon  it  the  instant  that 
it  falls,  and  to  carry  it  away.  The  word  "sown"  in  the 
explanation  of  the  parable, — "that  which  was  sown,"  not 
"received," — implies  the  perfect  identity  and  incorporation 
of  the  seed  with  those  that  receive  it.  The  plant  is  the 
seed  and  the  earth  combined;  so  the  Christian  is  the  truth 
and  humanity  incorporated,  the  Christian  is  the  truth  and 
human  nature  united  and  combined  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of 
God. 

Seeds  fell,  we  are  told,  in  the  first  instance,  by  the  way 
side,  and  the  fowls  of  heaven  came  and  devoured  them. 
Luke  says,  the  seeds  were  trodden  down:  at  all  events  they 

2* 


18  FORESHADOWS. 

were  cast  upon  the  hard  and  impenetrable  surface  of  a  soil 
beaten  hard  by  the  feet  of  ceaseless  traffic,  and  become  like 
the  very  stone  as  to  any  inherent  productive  power ;  so  that 
the  seed  must  either  be  crushed  by  the  next  footstep,  or 
picked  up  by  the  incidental  bird  that  settles  on  it,  or  washed 
away  by  the  rains,  the  rivers,  and  the  showers,  that  sweep 
over  it.  All  hearers,  it  is  plain,  do  not  profit  by  what  they 
hear,  and  this  is  one  of  the  explanations  why  our  Lord 
explains  this,  "When  any  one  heareth  the  word  of  the 
kingdom,  and  understandeth  it  not,"  that  is,  does  not  re- 
ceive it  in  his  heart,  "then  cometh  the  wicked  one,  and 
catcheth  away  that  which  was  sown."  The  hearer's  under- 
standing is  not  benefited.  "He  receives  in  his  soul  from  the 
lips  of  the  minister  no  quickening  and  penetrating  impres- 
sion; he  feels  no  interest  or  delight  in  what  he  hears;  the 
seeds  do  not  catch  hold  of  his  heart,  nor  does  his  heart 
open  its  pores  to  the  entrance  of  the  seed.  He  does  not 
feel  any  greater  interest  in  the  truths,  to  which  it  is  his 
privilege  and  responsibility  to  listen,  than  if  those  truths 
related  to  persons  inhabitants  of  another  world,  in  whose 
concerns,  progress,  and  destiny  he  had  no  care.  Why  is 
this?  He  has  made  his  heart  a  thoroughfare  for  all  evil 
interests,  for  the  world's  profits,  and  losses,  and  passions, 
and  prejudices,  to  walk  up  and  down  continually.  Selfish- 
ness has  hardened  his  heart,  and  evil  passions  have  reduced 
it  to  adamant,  and  when  the  seeds  of  truth  are  scattered 
by  the  sowers  appointed  to  sow  them,  they  alight  upon  it, 
rebound,  or  are  borne  away  as  soon  as  they  fall :  for  Satan, 
ever  watching,  and  ever  afraid  lest  a  victim  should  be  lost, 
either  snatches  up  the  seed  himself,  or  lets  loose  upon  the 
soul,  on  which  it  has  been  scattered,  a  herd  of  evil  desires 
and  passions,  which  eat  up  the  seed,  and  leave  the  heart 
bare  or  beat  it  harder  thaji  it  was  before.  The  heart  be- 
comes case-hardened  by  hearing  a  gospel  which  it  does  not 


THE   COMING   HARVEST.  19 

carry  into  life ;  the  very  repetition  increases  its  insensibi- 
lity. The  god  of  this  world  blinds  the  eye,  prejudices 
darken  the  mind,  passions  gain  power,  and  the  latter  con- 
dition of  such  an  one  is  worse  than  the  first. 

In  the  next  place,  some  seed  fell  on  stony  places.  It 
means  properly  rocky  places,  not  a  soil  mixed  with  stones, 
for  seeds  would  germinate  in  the  crevices  between,  but  a 
thin  soil  spread  upon  the  rock  without  mould  enough  to  re- 
tain the  moisture,  and  to  allow  the  seeds  to  strike  root  down- 
ward, take  hold,  and  grow  upward  permanently  till  the 
harvest.  The  seeds  at  first  germinated,  gave  promise  of 
progress ;  they  were  fed  by  the  rains,  and  appeared  strong 
and  healthy;  but  having  no  deep  root,  no  inward  source 
of  vegetable  vitality,  they  perished  in  the  drought  as  soon 
as  the  sun  rose  and  shone  in  his  meridian  strength.  This 
indicates  a  different  state  of  heart  from  that  which  was  de- 
scribed in  the  former  case,  which  we  have  just  disposed  of. 
The  hearer  in  this  instance  is  charmed  with  the  first  accents 
of  the  gospel ;  its  truths  are  to  him  full  of  music,  its  lessons 
overflow  with  beauty ;  he  seizes  its  promises,  hears  its  invi- 
tation, accepts  its  duties ;  he  takes,  however,  what  is  bright, 
not  what  is  otherwise.  He  builds,  but  counts  not  the  cost; 
he  will  not  hear  the  lesson,  that  through  much  tribulation 
we  must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  he  rejects  the 
obligation  to  carry  the  cross,  and  to  deny  ourselves.  He 
is  willing  to  listen  to  a  preacher  who  finds  his  type  in 
Ezekiel  xxxiii.  30-32:  "Also,  thou  son  of  man,  the  chil- 
dren of  thy  people  still  are  talking  against  thee  by  the  walls 
and  in  the  doors  of  the  houses,  and  speak  one  to  another, 
every  one  to  his  brother,  saying,  Come,  I  pray  you,  and 
hear  what  is  the  word  that  cometh  forth  from  the  Lord. 
And  they  come  unto  thee  as  the  people  cometh,  and  they 
sit  before  thee  as  my  people,  and  they  hear  fehy  words,  but 
they  will  not  do  them :  for  with  their  mouth  they  show  much 


20  FORESHADOWS. 

love,  but  their  heart  goeth  after  their  covetousness.  And, 
lo,  thou  art  unto  them  as  a  very  lovely  song  of  one  that 
liath  a  pleasant  voice,  and  can  play  well  on  an  instrument; 
for  they  hear  thy  words,  but  they  do  them  not."  He  is 
the  Herod  of  the  Gospel,  who  heard  John  gladly  as  long 
as  John  did  not  touch  the  darling  passion  that  he  cherished 
in  his  heart.  Had  the  truth  been  well  rooted  it  would  have 
endured,  but  here  it  withers.  The  same  sun,  thus,  that 
gives  nutriment  and  progress  to  the  seeds  on  one  soil, 
withers  and  blasts  the  young  plants  that  grow  upon  the 
other.  Let  us  ask,  have  we  inward  root  ?  The  roots  of  a 
tree  are  not  seen,  except  in  the  branches,  the  leaves,  and 
the  blossoms ;  so  a  Christian  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God, 
as  is  the  root  of  the  tree  in  the  living  soil,  but  the  evidence 
of  its  life  is  the  whole  course,  career,  and  conduct.  Peter 
had  these  deep  roots  and  fibres  of  the  inner  life,  struck  into 
his*  heart,  and  therefore  he  bowed  his  branches  to  the  hur- 
ricane, lost  some  of  his  verdure,  his  beauty,  and  his  size, 
but  was  not  rooted  up  and  cast  away.  Demas  had  a  faith 
destitute  of  vitality  and  of  root,  and  therefore,  when  the 
sun  of  tribulation  beat  upon  him,  his  Christianity  withered, 
and  he  departed,  having  loved  this  present  world.  A  man 
may  look  fair  and  green  up  to  a  certain  point ;  after  that 
affliction,  tribulation,  and  persecution  come,  he  is  seen  to 
endure  only  for  a  season.  He  had  the  appearance  of  Chris- 
tianity, he  was  destitute  of  its  ^jfe.  Let  us  see,  then,  that 
we  are  rooted  and  grounded  in  the  truth,  and  then,  when 
days  of  persecution  and  of  trial  come,  we  and  our  principles 
shall  live  and  illustrate  each  other. 

We  read,  next,  that  some  of  the  seeds  fell  among  thorns. 
In  other  words,  they  fell  in  ground  out  of  which  the  weeds 
and  thistles  were  not  utterly  extirpated.  There  was 
plenty  of  soil,  abundance  of  softening  showers  and  genial 
sunbeams,  but  the  weeds  grew  up  faster  than  the  corn,  till 


THE   COMING   HARVEST.  21 

by  their  rank  luxuriance  and  overshadowing  branches  they 
choked  the  good  seed.  Weeds  are  indigenous  to  every 
soil;  corn  is  an  exotic.  This  is  not  a  soil  hard  and  im-* 
penetrable,  the  corn  grows,  and  does  not  wither  at  once, 
or  even  for  a  season ;  it  retains  its  greenness,  but  it  is 
stunted  in  its  progress,  and  deprived  of  its  vital  juices,  by 
the  presence  of  weeds  that  absorb  them.  These  weeds  are 
the  cares  of  the  world,  and  the  pleasures  of  life — the  two 
great  aspects  that  this  world  presents,  under  the  influence 
and  the  charm  of  Avhich  every  Christian  more  or  less  is. 
Poverty,  and  hunger,  and  want  absorb  the  life  of  the 
soul,  and  the  anxieties  they  originate  choke  the  tender 
plants  of  the  truth.  What  shall  we  eat?  and  what  shall 
we  drink  ?  and  wherewithal  shall  we  be  clothed  ?  are  the 
questions  that  dilate  into  too  great  space  in  the  poor  man's 
heart,  and  destroy  by  their  presence  the  living  truths  of 
Christianity.  Rank,  honour,  worldly  splendour,  and  flat- 
tery, the  attractions  of  life,  the  glories  of  the  outward 
world,  feed  upon  the  life-blood  of  the  rich  man.  "I  am 
rich  and  increased  in  goods,  I  have  need  of  nothing." 
"They  that  be  rich,"  says  the  apostle,  "fall  into  tempta- 
tion and  a  snare,  and  into  many  foolish  and  hurtful  lusts, 
which  drown  many  souls  in  destruction  and  perdition." 
We  are  not  to  be  careful  for  many  things ;  we  are  to 
labour,  working  with  our  hands,  yet  to  labour  less  for  the 
meat  that  perisheth,  and  more  for  that  which  endureth 
unto  everlasting  life. 

We  have  then  a  picture  of  the  honest  and  good  soil. 
The  good  heart,  according  to  Scripture,  is  good  by  recep- 
tion of  the  truth.  It  does  not  receive  the  truth,  because 
it  is  good.  There  is  no  regeneration  of  heart,  except  by 
the  power  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  generally  through  the 
instrumentality  of  the  truth.  These,  we  are  told,  have 
the  word.  This  is  their  first  and  distinguishing  feature. 


22  FORESHADOWS. 

A  windy  day,  a  wet  day,  a  want  of  a  carriage,  or,  what  is 
worse,  having  a  carriage,  does  not  prevent  their  appear- 
nmce  in  the  accustomed  pew,  or  lessen  or  obstruct  their 
desire  to  hear  the  word,  and  to  open  their  hearts  to  the 
seed,  the  incorruptible  seed  of  life.  When-  they  come  to 
the  sanctuary,  they  bring  their  minds  as  well  as  their 
bodies.  Too  many  are  physically  present  in  the  house  of 
prayer,  but  mentally  absent.  When  the  church  looks 
most  crowded,  it  may  be  really  most  empty.  A  crowded 
church  may  be  a  crowded  sheepfold ;  it  may  not  be  a  com- 
pany of  anxious,  inquiring,  and  interested  minds.  It  is 
not  where  two  or  three  bodies,  but  where  two  or  three 
souls  are  met  together  in  the  name  of  Christ,  that  he  is 
present  in  the  midst  of  them.  It  is  of  no  use  to  shut 
shops  on  Sunday,  if  we  shut  up  our  minds  and  hearts  with 
then*  It  is  of  no  use  withdrawing  the  eye  from  the 
ledger,  if  it  still  be  riveted  on  the  transcript  of  it  in  your 
memory.  "My  son,  give  me  thine  heart,"  is  the  appro- 
priate inscription  for  every  house  of  God.  I  think  the 
word  used  by  our  Lord,  "hearing,"  is  emphatic.  Reading 
is  enjoined  in  Scripture,  but  hearing  still  more  so.  The 
Bible  is  the  storehouse  of  the  living  seed,  but  the  spoken 
sermon,  the  oral  utterance,  is  the  wind  that  wafts  the 
seeds,  and  scatters  them  abroad  over  the  soil  of  many 
hearts.  There  is  an  emphasis  in  spoken  truth,  which  is 
absent  from  read  truth.  The  mind  is  more  kindled  by  the 
sparks  that  enter  through  the  listening  ear,  than  those 
that  penetrate  by  the  arrested  eye.  Above  all,  hearing  is 
expressly  declared  to  be  the  ordinance  of  God. 

"They  understand,"  says  our  Lord.  Light  is  the  first 
created  thing;  salvation  is  a  reasonable  belief;  the  en- 
lightened mind  generally  precedes  the  holy  heart.  The 
eyes  of  the  understanding  are  enlightened,  and  we  are 
turned  from  darkness  unto  light  before  we  are  first  moved 


THE   COMING   HARVEST.  23 

by  the  mighty  motives  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  There  are 
some  things  we  cannot  understand  or  comprehend,  but 
other  things — the  essential,  saving,  and  distinguishing 
tilings  of  Christianity — are  so  plainly  revealed  in  the 
Bible,  and  so  frequently  elucidated  from  the  pulpit,  that 
the  wayfaring  man  can  scarcely  err  therein.  We  cannot, 
however,  understand  with  the  mind,  or  receive  a  saving 
impression  on  the  heart,  till  both  are  prepared  and  made 
susceptible  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  :  "The  natural  man 
receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  neither  can 
he  know  them,  because  they  are  spiritually  discerned."  It 
is  not  grasp  of  intellect,  but  divine  teaching  that  is  re- 
quired for  the  saving  reception  of  the  gospel.  The  simplest 
truths  are  hid  from  the  wise  and  prudent  of  this  world, 
while  the  sublimest  and  greatest  are  disclosed  to  babes. 
God  often  carries  on  this  process  of  regenerating  the  heart 
by  afflictions  and  losses,  and  trials  and  bereavements,  but 
oftener  still  through  the  truth  that  is  addressed  to  it;  and 
in  every  case  where  there  is  a  saving  truth  entertained, 
these  promises  have  been  fulfilled:  "All  thy  people  shall 
be  taught  of  thee,"  and  "He,"  the  Spirit,  "shall  teach 
you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  remembrance, 
whatsoever  I  have  spoken  to  you :  he  shall  take  of  the 
things  that  are  mine,  and  show  them  unto  you." 

It  is  said,  that  the  good  soil  receives  the  seed,  or  lite- 
rally translated,  it  holds  it  fast.  Christ  came  to  his  own,  ,* 
and  his  own  received  him  not ;  but  these  not  only  h-jar 
and  understand,  but  cordially  welcome  and  give  hearty 
hospitality  to  the  truth.  They  hail  its  approach,  as  the 
soil  hails  the  clews.  They  hold  fast  the  seeds  in  their 
bosoms,  and  suffer  not  Satan  to  catch  them  away.  They 
can  each  say,  "  Thy  word  have  I  hid  in  my  heart,  that  I 
offend  not  thee."  But  they  not  only  hold  it  fast,  but 
they  keep  it,  that  is,  they  value  it  after  they  have  tried 


24  FORESHADOWS. 

it.     We  cast  away  what  on  trial  is  found  useless,  we  keep 
what  is  precious  ;  such  hearers  keep  the  living  seed  as  men 

'  do  precious  jewels ;  they  appreciate  the  value  of  what 
they  receive,  and  feel  their  own  responsibility  in  receiving 
it.  There  is  an  ear  labour  just  as  there  is  a  lip  labour,  the 
one  in  hearing  and  the  other  in  praying,  and  nekher  pro- 
ductive of  any  good  or  oeneficent  result.  They  heard  not 
in  vain.  But  their  keeping  it  may  imply  their  defending 
it.  They  do  not  let  error  cast  its  darkening  shadow  over 
the  precious  truth  that  they  have  received.  They  are 
willing  to  part  with  the  largest  -husk,  but  they  will  not 
give  up  the  least  seed.  They  contend  earnestly  for  the 
faith,  and  hold  fast  the  good  thing  which  is  committed  to 
them.  They  take  care  of  the  seed  of  truth,  and  wait 
patiently  for  the  future,  when  there  shall  appear  upon  it 
the  blossom,  and  for  the  time  when  there  shall  be  gathered 
from  it  the  fruit  of  righteousness.  They  cherish  it  in 
their  inmost  hearts ;  they  are  not  satisfied  with  mere  in- 
tellectual apprehension  of  the  word  ;  they  meditate  upon 
it.  It  is  to  them  their  living  food.  Every  promise,  every 
precept,  and  every  encouragement  they  carefully  cherish, 
as  that  which  is  their  life,  and  will  not  let  it  go. 

And  finally,  it  is  said,  they  bring  forth  fruit.  This  is 
the  truest  test.  When  Paul  preached  at  Athens,  some 
mocked,  and  others  procrastinated,  and  others,  like  Diony- 

t  sius  the  Areopagite,  hid  it  in  their  hearts,  and  brought 
forth  fruit.  When  Jesus  preached,  some  were  heard  to 
wonder,  like  Herod ;  some  were  able  to  talk  of  him,  like 
Judas ;  others  to  cavil,  like  the  scribes  ;  and  others  to 
admire — "Never  man  spake  like  this  man;"  but  not  a 
few  to  learn  and  live  thereby.  The  fruit  is  always  the 
same  substantially  as  the  seed.  The  seed  is  holy,  the 
fruit  must  be  holy  also.  If  it  be  the  seed  of  instruction, 
the  understanding  will  be  enlightened;  if  the  seed  of 


THE   COMING   HARVEST.  25 

comfort,  the  hear-t  will  be  cheered  ;  if  the  seed  of  warn- 
ing, they  will  take  heed  lest  they  walk  in  the  ways  that 
are  corrupt;  if  the  seed  of  example,  they  will  become 
followers  of  Christ,  and  of  them  that  through  faith  have 
inherited  the  promises.  If  there  be  no  fruit,  there  can 
be  no  Christianity;  fruit  is  the  test  of  the  tree,  character 
the  symbol  of  principle.  And  fruit  in  season  above  all — 
that  is,  our  life  showing  itself  as  Christian  and  victorious 
in  that  sphere  or  place  in  which  God  in  his  providence 
has  placed  us — is  precious.  Such  fruitfulness  disarms  all 
opposition,  is  the  most  eloquent  credential  of  our  creed, 
strikes  a  world  that  will  read  our  lives,  while  it  is  deter- 
mined not  to  read  our  Bibles ;  and  that  prophecy  is  ful- 
filled— "  Then  shall  the  heathen  know  that  I  am  the  Lord, 
when  I  shall  be  sanctified  by  you  before  their  eyes."  All 
the  hearers  of  the  word,  it  is  too  plain  to  every  spectator 
of  the  sower,  are  not  profited  thereby.  It  is  a  well-known 
fact,  that  three-fifths  of  the  seed  sown  in  every  country 
does  not  grow  into  the  harvest ;  and  according  to  this 
parable,  three-fourths  of  the  audience  received  seed,  but 
altogether  in  vain. — Let  us  examine  and  try  ourselves, 
and  see  in  what  category  we  are,  what  is  the  soil  of  our 
heart,  and  what  reception  we  are  giving  to  the  seed  that 
is  sown  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath. 

In  the  next  place,  Christ  sows  the  seed  upon  all  soils ; 
he  makes  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  good  and  on  the  evil ;  he 
gives  to  all  opportunity  of  knowing  him  ;  if  any  perish, 
it  is  not  because  the  sower  withheld  the  seed,  or  because 
the  seed  was  not  good,  but  because  their  own  hearts  were 
not  ready  and  open  to  receive  it.  Let  us  never  forget,  in 
the  last  place,  that  two  things  are  required  for  a  harvest 
— a  terrestrial  labour,  and  a  celestial  blessing ; — under 
the  present  economy  the  one  is  unavailing  without  the 
other.  In  vain  we  cultivate  the  soil  and  sow  the  seed,  if 


26  FORESHADOWS. 

no  sunbeams  and  showers  descend  upon  it.  In  vain  sun- 
beams and  showers  descend,  if^we  do  not  cultivate  the 
soil  and  sow  the  seed.  Let  us  combine  these  two  ;  let  us 
look  up  and  pray  for  a  celestial  blessing,  let  us  abound 
more  and  more  in  terrestrial  labours,  let  us  ever  feel  that 
the  Saviour  watches  from  the  skies  alike  our  labours,  his 
blessings,  and  the  result.  Where  much  is  given,  there 
much  shall  be  required ;  our  responsibility  is  increased  by 
opportunity  :  "  Work  while  it  is  called  to-day,  for  the 
night  corneth,  when  no  man  can  work." 

We  can  anticipate  a  day  in  which  there  will  be  no 
barren  soil — no  choking  weeds;  when  the  seeds  sown  in 
this  spring  of  ours,  shall  grow  up  and  wave  in  ama- 
ranthine beauty  in  everlasting  summer.  Its  advent  is 
certain.  Its  first  rays  sprinkle  the  highest  spires,  and 
gild  softly  the  loftiest  hills.  Come,  Lord  Jesus,  come 
quickly. 


27 


LECTURE  II. 

THE    GREAT   FESTIVAL. 

Then  said  he  unto  him,  A  certain  man  made  a  great  supper,  and  bade  many : 
and  sent  his  servant  at  supper  time  to  say  to  them  that  were  bidden,  Come; 
for  all  things  are  now  ready.  And  they  all  -with  one  consent  began  to  make 
excuse.  The  first  said  unto  him,  I  have  bought  a  piece  of  ground,  and  I 
must  needs  go  and  see  it :  I  pray  thee  have  me  excused.  And  another  said, 
I  have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen,  and  I  go  to  prove  them :  I  pray  thee  have 
me  excused.  And  another  said,  I  have  married  a  wife,  and  therefore  I  can- 
not come.  So  that  servant  came,  and  showed  his  lord  these  things.  Then 
the  master  of  the  house  being  angry  said  to  his  servant,  Go  out  quickly  into 
the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city,  and  bring  in  hither  the  poor,  and  the  maim- 
ed, and  the  halt,  and  the  blind.  And  the  servant  said,  Lord,  it  is  done  as 
thou  hast  commanded,  and  yet  there  is  room.  And  the  lord  said  unto  the 
servant,  Go  out  into  the  highways  and  hedges,  and  compel  them  to  come  in, 
that  my  house  may  be  filled.  For  I  say  unto  you,  That  none  of  those  men 
which  were  bidden  shall  taste  of  my  supper. — LUKE  xiv.  16-24. 

s> 

THE  remark  from  which  the  parable  I  have  read  pro- 
bably originated,  is  contained  in  the  15th  verse,  where  it 
is  stated,  "  Blessed  is  he  that  shall  eat  bread  in  the  king- 
dom of  God."  Every  Jew  believed  that  at  the  close  of 
this  present  dispensation,  and  at  the  commencement  of 
that  dispensation  which  is  yet  to  dawn,  a  great  festival 
would  be  provided,  at  which  should  be  assembled  together 
Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  the  fathers  and  the 
children  of  that  ancient  and  once  illustrious  race ;  and 
therefore  one  of  them  that  sat  at  meat  and  anticipated 
that  day,  said,  "Blessed  is  he,"  that  is,  happy  is  the  man, 
"that  shall  then  eat  bread  in  the  kingdom  of  God."  Our 
Lord  then  seized  the  remark  incidentally  made  by  a  Jew 
who  was  present,  and  on  that  remark  constructed  one  of 


28  FORESHADOWS. 

his  beautiful  parables, — so  beautiful  in  itself,  and  so  replete 
with  instructive  and  with  spiritual  meaning,  that  we  have 
only  to  break  the  shell,  and  so  exhibit  the  precious  kernel 
which  that  shell  contains. 

It  is  here  stated,  that  "a  certain  man,"  that  is,  the  Sa- 
viour himself,  "made  a  great  supper,"  the  chief  meal  in 
ancient  times,  or  a  festival,  to  which  all  those  mentioned 
in  the  sequel  were  invited.  A  feast  is  frequently  employed 
in  Scripture,  to  be  a  symbol  of  what  is  provided  for  the 
soul  in  the  great  gift  of  the  Saviour,  Christ  Jesus.  In  the 
9th  chapter  of  the  Proverbs,  in  the  prophecies  of  Isaiah, 
in  various  other  passages  that  will  occur  to  you,  in  the 
Book  of  Revelation  also — "the  great  festival" — "the 
bread  that  satisfies" — "the  feast,  the  provision  that  Wis- 
dom has  made,  who  has  «lain  her  beasts,"  as  it  is  stated, 
"and  poured  out  her  wine" — are  all  intended  to  convey 
vividly,  and  by  expressive  and  easily  remembered  imagery, 
the  rich  and  ample  provision  that  is  made  for  all  the  wants 
of  all  that  will  in  the  great  gift  of  a  Saviour  in  the  gospel. 
And  this  idea  of  a  festival  provided,  teaches  us  that  the 
soul  needs  nutriment  just  as  much  as  the  body.  We  often 
think  that  the  body  alone  needs  bread,  and  when  we  have 
earned  it,  or  obtained  it,  and  eaten  it,  we  are  satisfied. 
But  we  forget  that  we  have  satisfied  only  the  wants  of  the 
lower  nature,  and  that  the  great  wants  of  the  higher  nature 
may  either  be  unappreciated  by  us,  because  insensible  to 
their  nature  and  greatness,  or  may  remain  unfilled  and 
unsatisfied  by  that  living  bread,  which  is  as  needful  for 
the  wants  of  the  soul  as  the  bread  that  perisheth  is  for  the 
wants  of  the  body.  Let  us  never  forget,  then,  that  man 
has  two  appetites,  or  two  great  necessities ;  that  man  not 
only  needs  bread  for  the  body,  that  this  outward  medium 
of  communication  with  an  outward  world  may  be  adequate 
to  its  uses  ;  but  that  he  needs  also  that  nutriment  for  his 


THE   GREAT   FESTIVAL.  09 

immortal  soul,  the  absence  of  which  will  not  be  its  annihi- 
lation, but  its  pining,  and  conscious  agony  and  sorrow, 
throughout  the  ages  that  are  to  come.  What  is  this  pro- 
vision that  is  made  in  the  gospel  for  the  soul  ?  The  body 
needs  bread  and  water ;  the  soul  needs  food,  and  to  our 
joy  that  food  is  provided  for  us.  It  is  described  in  every 
page  of  the  word  of  God.  It  is  gathered  every  Sunday. 

The  first  thing  in  this  great  festival,  provided,  and  com- 
plete, and  accessible  to  every  one  of  us,  is  the  forgiveness 
of  sin.  The  great  want  of  humanity  is  pardon  first ;  and 
until  we  ourselves  know  that  our  sins — the  ocean-load  that 
unforgiven  must  sink  us  to  the  depths  of  ruin — are  blotted 
out,  we  never  can  enjoy  a  conscious  peace  with  God,  or 
feel  at  ease  in  the  prospect  of  a  judgment  throne,  and  an 
opening  age  to  come.  But,  blessed  be  God,  that  great 
want  has  a  provision  ready  to  meet  it,  and  that  is  to  be 
had  for  asking.  It  was  finished  on  Calvary,  it  was  pro- 
claimed at  Pentecost,  it  is  described  in  the  Bible,  it  is 
enunciated  in  every  true  sermon,  it  is  accessible  to  every 
hungry  soul :  so  that  no  man  need  live  an  unforgiven  man, 
against  his  will.  There  is  provided  complete  forgiveness 
for  all  that  will ;  and  this  is  the  very  first  and  distinctive 
provision  in  this  great  feast  to  which  we  are  invited. 

The  very  next  provision  in  it,  free  and  complete,  is  re- 
generation of  heart.  We  need,  not  only  that  our  sins 
should  be  forgiven,  that  we  may  thus  be  admitted  to 
heaven,  but  likewise  that  our  nature  should  be  transformed, 
that  thus  heaven  may  be  heaven  to  us.  To  an  unregene- 
rate  man  what  God  promises  in  the  future  would  be  no 
happiness  at  all:  he  would  have  no  taste,  no  appetite  for 
it,  no  sympathy  with  it.  Heaven's  light  would  not  suit 
his  eyes ;  heaven's  joys  would  not  nestle  in  his  heart.  We 
need  as  much  to  be  made  fit  for  heaven  by  the  Holy  Spi- 
rit's work  within  us,  as  to  be  entitled  to  heaven  by  Christ's 


30  FORESHADOWS. 

work  for  us — Christ  alone  in  his  finished  work  is  all  our 
title — the  Spirit  within  us  in  his  progressive  work,  our 
fitness.  And,  blessed  be  God,  these  two  great  prepara- 
tives for  heaven,  these  two  grand  provisions  for  lost  and 
condemned  humanity,  are  to  be  found,  and  are  accessible 
in  the  gospel  feast,  the  "great  supper,"  that  this  Man, 
our  elder  Brother,  has  made  for  us. 

Having  noticed  this  festival,  let  us  examine,  in  the  next 
place,  the  invitation.  It  is  said,  he  "bade  many,"  that 
is,  if  I  mistake  not,  the  many,  the  multitudes,  the  mass  of 
mankind — he  "bade  many."  And  that  bidding  is  not 
spent  by  the  lapse  of  eighteen  centuries :  it  is  not  hushed 
in  travelling  from  Jerusalem  to  London.  Christ  still  bids 
many,  just  as  truly,  as  really,  as  if  he  were  now  in  the 
midst  of  us,  and  were  heard  saying,  "All  that  are  weary 
and  heavy  laden,  come  unto  me."  Whoever  will,  let  him 
take  of  the  water  "  of  life  freely."  The  difficult  thing  with 
us  is,  that  we  constantly  think  of  the  Saviour  as  an  histo- 
rical person  of  the  past,  and  forget  that  he  is  a  living, 
present  Saviour  now,  and  near  us.  We  are  very  apt  to 
think  that  what  is  in  this  Book  did  once  take  place  and 
may  be  recollected ;  but  we  are  very  prone  to  forget  that 
every  thing  that  is  in  it  has  now  a  living  interest  and 
relation  to  us.  It  is  the  living  gospel,  spoken  now, 
abounding  now,  offered  now,  by  the  living  Saviour,  who 
waits  now  to  welcome  us,  and  to  bless  us  with  all  we  need, 
or  can  desire,  in  this  life,  or  for  that  which  is  to  come.  At 
this  moment,  therefore,  truly,  clearly,  urgently,  Christ  bids 
many.  He  bids  them  in  every  page  of  the  Bible ;  in  the 
preaching  of  the  gospel ;  in  the  dispensations  of  his  pro- 
vidence; and  in  those  responses  which  our  consciences 
give  to  what  he  addresses  to  us.  There  is  not  a  reader 
of  this  work,  however  thoughtless  he  or  she  may  be,  who 
does  not  feel  in  his  or  her  heart  that  the  gospel  is  true, 


THE   GREAT   FESTIVAL.  31 

and  that  it  is  infinite  peril  to  reject  it,  and  duty  and  pri- 
vilege to  believe  it.  I  know  that  when  I  speak  or  write 
what  is  contained  in  the  Holy  Scripture,  that  I  have  advo- 
cates, and  sympathizers,  and  support,  and  even  seconding 
in  every  heart  that  is  within  reach,  in  every  conscience 
that  is  touched.  Men  know  in  their  best,  and  truest,  and 
honest  moments,  that  what  they  are  told  in  this  Book  is 
true  ;  they  feel  in  their  sequestered  and  most  unprejudiced 
hours,  that  to  believe  is  duty,  to  refuse  is  the  height  of 
ingratitude,  irreligion,  and  ruin.  Many,  then,  are  still 
bidden — all  are  bidden ;  for  there  is  no  exclusion. 

But  it  is  the  great  characteristic,  as  we  are  told,  of  this 
feast,  that  «  all  things  are  ready."  This  is  its  most  pre- 
cious feature,  and  I  want  the  reader  well  to  weigh  it, 
because  these  words  finish  the  very  possibility  of  the  truth 
of  many  of  those  theories,  or  rather  corruptions,  of  the 
gospel  that  have  crept  into  the  Christian  church.  If  then 
the  feast  be  ready,  the  guests  have  not  to  bring  food  with 
them,  but  to  seat  themselves  at  the  table,  and  to  eat  what 
is  provided  for  them.  The  gospel  of  salvation  is  ready, 
and  we  come,  not  to  make  a  salvation,  or  to  bring  a  salva- 
tion, but  simply  to  receive  a  salvation  already  perfect  and 
complete.  In  other  words,  it  is  our  true  position,  that 
we  are  not  come  to  make  an  atonement,  but  to  believe  in 
an  atonement  already  made.  We  are  not  here  to  elabo- 
rate a  salvation,  but  to  accept  a  salvation  completely 
ready.  Men  who  are  invited  to  believe  the  gospel,  are 
not  invited  to  start  any  process  of  making  their  peace 
with  God,  as  the  world  calls  it,  but  to  accept  the  complete 
pledge  of  perfect  peace,  "glory  to  God  in  the  highest, 
and  on  earth  peace,  good-will  toward  men."  Now  this  is 
a  most  important  truth.  We  have  no  robes  to  put  on,  no 
graces  to  borrow,  no  penances  to  endure,  no  payment  to 
make,  no  sacrifices  to  offer ;  but  just  as  we  are  to  approach 


32  FORESHADOWS. 

to  Jesus  just  as  he  is,  in  short,  to  come  to  him  as  Adam 
left  us,  in  order  that  we  may  be  made  what  the  second 
Adam  alone  can  make  us.  But  the  too  frequent  feeling 
in  the  minds  of  many  is,  that  they  need  first  to  do  some- 
thing, to  wait  a  little  till  they  are  a  little  better,  to  improve 
a  branch  here,  and  to  alter  something  there,  or  to  speak 
to  the  priest,  or  consult  some  one  else,  or  to  offer  sacri- 
fices, in  order  that  they  may  be  worthy  to  come  to  Christ. 
The  call  of  the  gospel,  on  the  contrary,  is  addressed  to  us 
lying  where  Adam's  sin  left  us,  and  its  summons  is,  Arise 
and  come  through  Christ  at  once  to  your  Father,  and  be 
children  of  God,  heirs  of  the  kingdom  of  glory.  The 
idea  very  frequently  in  our  minds,  and  the  Romish  Church 
is  constructed  upon  it,  is,  that  God  is  still  but  partially 
reconciled,  that  still  he  would  rather  reject  than  welcome 
us,  that  even  now  it  is  with  a  reluctance  and  a  grudge  that 
he  ever  pardons  or  saves  us.  Such  is  the  popular  mind, 
it  is  also  the  Popish  mind — it  is  not  the  mind  of  the 
Spirit  of  God.  God's  love  to  us  was  not  created  by 
Christ,  but  only  manifested  in  Christ.  Jesus  died  because 
God  loved  us ;  it  is  not  that  God  loved  us  because  Jesus 
died.  He  so  loved  us  that  he  made  this  channel  for  the 
egress  of  that  love,  and  he  sent  this  Saviour  to  be  the  ex- 
ponent of  that  love.  There  is  nothing  that  God  can  do 
in  this  respect  that  has  not  been  done — all  is  ready.  He 
only  wants  us  to  come  with  empty  hearts,  that  they  may 
be  filled — humbled,  that  they  may  be  exalted — hungry, 
that  they  may  be  fed ;  pleading  as  their  only  plea,  that 
they  have  nothing,  and  asking  him  to  give  them  as  his 
greatest  gift  the  pardon  of  sin,  regeneration  of  heart,  and 
all  that  law  can  demand  or  love  can  give.  Now,  this  is 
just  the  gospel ;  it  is,  if  I  may  so  speak,  the  alphabet  of 
the  gospel.  God  the  Father  is  ready ;  he  needs  nothing 
to  be  done  in  order  to  love  us.  God  the  Son  is  ready : 


THE   GREAT   FESTIVAL.  33 

"  Come  unto  me  all  that  are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  and 
I  will  give  you  rest."  God  the  Spirit  is  ready.  In  short, 
I  know  nothing  that  is  unready,  except  man's  reluctant 
and  rebellious  heart ;  the  unreadiness  is  not  in  God,  it  is 
in  man.  If  we  do  not  come  now,  we  shall  not  be  more 
disposed  to  come  to-morrow;  if  we  are  not  ready  to-day, 
we  are  not  likely  to  be  more  ready  to-morrow.  If  we 
should  wait  ten  thousand  years,  our  sins  will  not  be  less, 
God's  mercies  will  not  be  greater  ;  it  will  be  all  the  oppo- 
site way,  your  sins  will  be  greater,  and  God  may  justly 
say,  "  I  called,  and  ye  refused,  and  therefore  I  will  shut 
mine  ear  and  hear  you  no  more ;"  he  may  justly  forget 
to  be  gracious,  having  stretched  out  his  hands  to  a  rebel- 
lious people  all  the  day  long.  But,  some  one  says,  let 
me  clearly  understand  you.  Am  I — a  sinner — just  as  I 
am,  fit  to  go  into  the  presence  of  God?  If  you  were 
asked  to  go  into  the  presence  of  our  sovereign,  of  course 
you  are  not  fit  as  you  are :  you  would  make  ready  and 
put  on  appropriate  costume  in  order  to  enjoy  the  honour. 
But  you  are  called  to  go  into  the  presence  of  God,  not 
only  as  sinners,  but  just  because  you  are  sinners.  Jesus 
has  come  into  the  world  to  seek  and  to  save  sinners. 
You  are  the  class  he  has  come  to ;  you  are  just  in  the  very 
category  he  deals  with ;  it  is  because  you  are  sinners  that 
he  seeks  to  save  you ;  and  the  reason,  I  say,  of  your 
belief  is  not  any  thing  in  you,  but  something  altogether 
out  of  you,  and  in  Christ.  Your  warrant  to  go  to  God, 
and  to  rest  in  his  love,  as  in  a  Father's  love,  is  not  some- 
thing in  you,  which  you  are  to  wait  for ;  but  something  in 
Christ,  ready,  perfect,  complete,  and  by  virtue  of  which 
there  is  no  obstruction  between  the  greatest  sinner  and 
instant  peace  with  God  in  Christ,  by  whom  there  is  an 
access  for  the  greatest  sinner  on  this  side  of  heaven.  It 
is  thus  then  that  just  as  you  are  you  may  go  to  God.  But, 


P,  1  FORESHADOWS. 

some  one  may  say,  is  there  not  such  a  truth  as  God's 
sovereignty  ?  Is  there  not  such  a  doctrine  as  election  ? 
and  if  I  am  not  elect,  I  cannot  go ;  but  if  I  am  elect,  no 
doubt  I  shall  one  day  go.  I  had  better  sit  still  at  present, 
I  had  better  be  quiescent.  Did  you  ever  read  of  any 
saint  in  the  Bible  pleading  this  ?  You  know  in  your 
hearts  that  your  plea  is  an  utterly  dishonest  one.  You 
know  that  in  things  of  this  life  no  such  plea  would  ever 
occur  to  you.  Have  we  not  read  that  when  Christ  said 
to  Matthew,  "Follow  me,"  he  did  not  say,  "Let  me  see 
first  if  I  be  elect,  or  not?"  but  he  immediately  arose  and 
followed  him.  In  similar  circumstances  when  Peter  was 
called  he  did  not  say,  "Am  I  elect,  or  not?"  If  he  had 
said  so,  Jesus  would  have  said,  "  What  is  that  to  thee  ? 
follow  thou  me."  Our  duty  is,  not  to  try  to  look  into 
God's  hidden  book  to  see  if  our  names  be  there,  but  to 
listen  to  God's  audible  voice  and  read  God's  recorded  will, 
and  see  what  our  character  is  there.  It  is  true  that  God 
has  chosen  us  before  the  foundation  of  the  world  that  we 
should  be  holy  ;  and  if  there  were  no  election,  I  believe 
there  would  be  no  salvation.  If  God  did  not  draw  us, 
we  should  never  follow  him ;  if  he  did  not  call  first,  we 
should  never  answer  him ;  if  he  did  not  choose  us,  we 
should  never  choose  him ;  if  he  did  not  love  us,  we  should 
never  love  him  ;  but  if  you  take  a  precious  doctrine,  and 
make  it  an  obstruction  to  your  obedience  to  the  Saviour, 
you  are  just  as  guilty  as  those  who  put  the  church  between 
the  sinner  and  Christ,  or  the  priest  between  the  sinner 
and  Christ.  It  is  just  as  truly  Popery  to  put  election  or 
reprobation  between  the  greatest  sinner  and  instant  for- 
giveness, as  to  put  the  priest,  the  church,  or  sacrament. 
Popery  is  not  a  compendium  of  specific  names,  but  it  is 
the  habit  of  going  to  any  thing  for  salvation  except  Christ, 
or  planting  any  thing  as  an  obstruction  to  your  approach 


THE   GREAT   FESTIVAL.  35 

to  Christ  for  salvation  ;  this  is  the  very  essence  of  Romish 
error,  and  of  Romish  superstition.  And  therefore  you 
have  nothing  to  do  with  any  thing,  but  to  hear  what 
Christ  says,  and  obey.  "I  am  the  door;"  and  as  the 
door,  he  is  the  way  for  you  to  enter  in.  "  I  am  the  way : 
no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but  by  me."  It  is  only 
a  corrupt  and  a  metaphysical  mind  that  would  say,  "  I 
must  wait  until  I  become  the  subject  of  a  miraculous  im- 
pulse, or  of  a  supernatural  impression ;  and  then  I  shall 
obey  and  come."  Such  a  one  sees  a  door  ;  he  is  told  that 
door  leads  to  heaven  :  he  looks  at  the  door,  and  examines 
it  very  carefully,  and  he  says,  "It  is  probable  that  there 
is  no  thoroughfare ;  if  I  attempt  to  enter,  I  may  meet 
with  what  I  do  not  like.  I  am  not  sure  that  I  shall  be 
welcome  if  I  knock."  That  is  the  reasoning  of  the  mere 
carnal  metaphysician.  But  he  who  receives  the  kingdom 
of  God  like  a  little  child  is  troubled  with  no  such  meta- 
physical perplexities ;  he  knocks,  and  the  door  opens,  and 
he  enters,  and  is  happy.  Unless  we  shall  receive  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  as  little  children,  we  shall  never  receive 
it  with  happiness  at  all.  Thus  then  "all  things  are 
ready;"  many  were  bidden,  and  none  were  pronounced  by 
the  Master  worthy  to  be  excluded  from  instant  admission. 
But,  we  read,  some  made  excuses.  One  said,  "I  have 
bought  a  piece  of  ground,  and  I  must  needs  go  and  see  it." 
Another  said,  "I  have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen,  and  I  go 
to  prove  them."  And  another  said,  "I  have  married  a 
wife,"  and  assumed  in  a  most  cavalier  manner  that  there- 
fore he  could  not  come.  Now,  of  course,  these  excuses, 
if  looked  at  by  honest  men,  must  be  seen  to  be  wholly 
hypocrisy,  every  one  of  them.  Why,  one  man  says,  "I 
have  bought  a  piece  of  ground,  and  I  must  needs  go  and 
see  it."  Is  it  likely  that  a  sagacious,  worldly  man,  such 
as  this  evidently  was,  would  have  purchased  a  piece  of 


36  FORESHADOWS. 

laud  without  first  seeing  it?  Is  it  likely  that  he  bought 
it  first,  and  then  went  to  examine  it  afterward  ?  The  very 
worldliness  of  his  character  indicates  there  must  have  been 
worldly  sagacity  in  that  character ;  and  therefore  he  could 
not  have  purchased  the  land,  and  then  afterward  have 
gone  to  see  what  it  was  worth.  And  the  other  said,  "I 
have  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen,  and  I  go  to  prove  them." 
Is  it  possible  that  he  bought  five  yoke  of  oxen  without 
knowing  whether  they  were  healthy  or  the  reverse,  whether 
they  were  old  or  young,  whether  they  were  fit  for  work  or 
unfit  ?  It  was  a  lie,  and  he  knew  it  was  so ;  it  was  a  mere 
pretext  for  evading  a  duty,  that  did  not  suit  his  taste  and 
his  moral  temperament.  And  when  the  last  one  said,  "I 
have  married  a  wife,  and  therefore  I  cannot  come,"  I  ask, 
how  could  this  be  an  excuse  ?  If  his  wife  were  a  Chris- 
tian, she  would  have  come  with  him ;  and  if  she  were  not 
a  Christian,  he  had  no  business  to  have  married  her  at  all ; 
and  if  he  had  entered  into  a  new  relationship,  instead  of 
that  being  a  reason  for  staying  away  from  that  Source 
in  which  all  relationships  in  life  are  sanctified,  it  was  the 
greatest  reason  for  his  coming,  and  accepting  that  which 
would  make  his  home  happy,  and  that  relationship  sweet. 
The  first  excuse  is  the  landlord's  excuse ;  the  second  ex- 
cuse is  the  tradesman's ;  and  the  third  excuse  is  the  do- 
mestic man's  excuse.  One  said,  "  I  am  too  busy  in  looking 
after  my  rents ;  I  am  too  busy  in  these  times  of  severe 
pressure,  to  be  able  to- spare  any  time  for  religion."  The 
second  is  the  excuse  of  the  shop,  or  of  the  counting-house : 
"Really,  I  make  so  little,  my  customers  are  so  few,  uiy 
profits  are  so  small,  that  I  must  work  from  morning  to 
night,  either  at  my  books  or  behind  my  counter,  in  order 
to  make  all  ends  meet,  and  to  have  something  to  spare  at 
Christmas;  and  therefore  I  have  no  time  for  religion." 
The  third  is  the  domestic  man's  excuse,  the  excuse  of  the 


THE   GREAT   FESTIVAL.  37 

father,  the  mother,  the  sister,  the  brother,  the  son,  or  the 
daughter:  "I  have  a  home,  and  its  cares  and  anxieties  are 
so  many,  that  I  have  no  time  for  religion."  And  all  three 
most  sadly  forget,  that  the  admission  of  religion  into  all 
their  concerns,  instead  of  adding  to  the  load,  would  posi- 
tively lighten  it ;  instead  of  making  them  less  active,  would 
have  made  them  more  so ;  for  no  man  walks  his  fields  or 
treads  his  floor  with  so  elastic  a  footstep,  as  he  who  sees 
God's  goodness  and  God's  presence  over  them  all ;  and  no 
man  transacts  the  world's  business  with  so  bounding  a 
heart,  as  he  who  knows  that  God  is  his  Father,  and  that 
his  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness ;  and  no  home  is 
lighted  up  with  so  beautiful  a  halo,  with  so  magnificent  a 
glory,  as  that  home  which  begins  with  prayer,  and  ends 
with  praise,  and  where  Christ  is  all  and  in  all.  Besides, 
these  excuses,  if  they  had  been  bona  fide,  good  excuses, 
are  not  valid  excuses  for  rejecting,  what  it  is  our  instant 
duty  to  accept,  and  eternal  ruin  to  refuse,  God's  offer  of 
instant  pardon.  If  excuses  are  at  all  valid  for  rejecting 
the  gospel,  then  one  man  will  be  able  to  say  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat, "I  am  not  a  Christian,  because  I  could  not 
make  up  my  mind  to  believe  the  Bible."  And  another 
will  be  able  to  say,  "I  am  not  a  Christian,  because  I  was 
too  busy."  And  another,  "  I  am  not  a  Christian,  because 
I  did  not  care  to  think  of  the  subject."  And  another, 
"Because  I  had  something  else  to  attend  to."  These  ex- 
cuses cannot  be  accepted :  they  are  excuses  urged  by  man 
for  disobeying  God.  If  there  be  a  valid  excuse,  there  is 
no  obligation.  Duty  ceases  to  be  duty  the  moment  there 
is  a  valid  excuse  for  not  doing  it.  And  besides,  what  is  it 
that  men  are  excusing  themselves  from?  From  being 
happy.  God  says  to  humanity,  "Be  happy;"  and  hu- 
manity says,  "I  have  too  much  to  attend  to  in  the  world, 
and  I  will  not  be  happy."  The  very  first  mission  of  the 


38  FORESHADOWS. 

gospel  is  to  preach  happiness ;  it  is  its  secondary  effect  to 
produce  holiness.  Most  persons  think  of  Christianity  as 
if  its  first  and  primary  design  were  to  make  men  holy ;  its 
first  and  primary  design  is  to  make  men  happy,  and  then 
gratitude  to  God  for  so  grand,  so  sovereign  a  boon,  will 
instantly  create  responsive  love  to  God,  and  love  to  God 
involves  obedience  to  the  whole  of  his  moral  law.  It  is 
thus,  then,  that  man  excusing  himself,  is  positively  ex- 
cusing himself  from  being  happy. 

We  read,  that  the  servant  came  and  related  to  his  master 
all  that  had  taken  place ;  all  the  facts  were  presented  to 
him  ;  and  we  read  that  the  result  was,  that  the  master  was 
"angry."  No  wonder  that  he  should  be  angry  that  so 
munificent  a  provision  should  meet  with  so  scornful  an  ac- 
ceptance ;  angry  that  what  he  had  provided  in  his  love, 
men  should  think  unworthy  of  acceptance  at  all.  As 
parallel  to  this  we  read  of  "the  wrath  of  the  Lamb,"  the 
most  awful  expression  in  the  whole  New  Testament.  It  is 
always  found  in  the  links  and  relationships  of  affection, 
that  the  greatest  love,  should  it  undergo  a  change,  becomes 
the  intensest  hatred — the  reaction  is  the  greater.  And 
we  shall  find  that  the  wrath  of  the  Lamb  is  the  more 
terrific,  because  the  love  of  the  Lamb  was  so  great. '  The 
apostle  Paul  was  so  struck  with  astonishment  at  the  guilt 
and  heinousness  of  any  rejecting  the  gospel,  that  he  said, 
"If  any  man  love  not  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  let  him  be 
anathema;"  as  if  the  apostle  said,  "I  could  speak  a  word 
for  one  condemned  for  his  personal  sins,  but  I  could 
scarcely  speak  for  him  who  does  not  love  one  who  loved 
us  so  much  as  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

But  after  it  is  said  that  he  was  angry,  it  is  added,  that 
"the  master  of  the  house  said  to  his  servant,  Go  out 
quickly  into  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city,  and  bring  in 
hither  the  poor,  and  the  maimed,  and  the  halt,  and  the 


THE   GREAT   FESTIVAL.  39 

blind."  "Go  out  quickly" — the  day  of  grace  is  merging 
fast  into  the  day  of  glory;  the  seed-time  is  passing  away; 
the  currents  of  time  are  merging  into  the  ocean  of  eternity. 
Soon  these  offers  must  cease,  this  opportunity  shall  have 
passed  away,  and  those  that  thus  rejected  him  shall  be 
constrained  to  give  utterance  to  the  agonizing  cry,  "  The 
harvest  is  passed,  the  summer  is  ended,  and  we  are  not 
saved." 

"Go  out  quickly,"  says  the  Saviour,  "into  the  streets 
and  lanes  of  the  city,"  that  is,  those  parts  of  a  great  city 
that  are  likely  last  to  be  visited  with  the  light,  and  life, 
and  enjoyment  of  the  gospel.  Who  that  knows  this  great 
metropolis,  does  not  know  of  lanes,  and  alleys,  and  streets 
where  the  policeman  is  the  only  visitor,  and  where  the  jail 
is  the  only  discipline,  and  where  the  police-office  is  the 
only  school  that  the  young  ever  see — lanes,  alleys,  and 
streets  into  which  the  sun  scarcely  shines  from  the  firma- 
ment, much  less  the  light  of  the  Sun  of  righteousness  ? 
And  those  very  children  that  we  by  our  niggardliness 
suffer  to  grow  up  unconscious  of  the  very  distinctions  of 
vice  and  virtue,  we  then  punish  by  sending  to  a  penal 
colony,  or  to  the  treadmill,  when  the  punishment  should 
properly  alight  upon  those  congregations  that  never  made 
an  effort  to  enlighten,  or  to  visit,  or  to  reach  them.  "  Go 
out  quickly,"  said  our  Lord,  "into  the  streets  and  lanes 
of  the  city."  This  reproach  is  only  partially  mitigated 
by  the  labours  of  that  most  excellent  institution,  "  The 
City  Mission."  Many  of  its  missionaries,  as  I  have 
followed  them  myself,  go  out  into  the  lanes,  and  alleys, 
and  sequestered  nooks  and  streets,  and  carry  glad  tidings 
to  them  that  have  never  heard  of  them  before,  and  point 
out  to  them  who  have  scarcely  bread  to  eat,  a  festival,  a 
feast  of  fat  things  provided  for  the  soul,  in  the  gospel  of 
the  Son  of  God. 


40  FORESHADOWS. 

The  servant  then  replies,  "  Lord,  it  is  done  as  thou  hast 
commanded."  This  is  his  answer.  Beautiful  and  noble 
reply,  to  be  able  to  say,  It  is  done  as  Christ  has  com- 
manded us ;  to  be  able  to  say,  We  have  not  done  all  we 
could  have  wished,  but  we  have  done  what  we  could.  And 
yet,  the  reply  of  this  servant  is  far  more  humble  than 
even  this  :  he  does  not  say,  "  I  have  done  as  thou  hast 
commanded,"  lest  it  should  look  like  taking  some  glory  or 
credit  to  himself ;  but  the  instrument  is  lost  and  obscured 
in  the  lustre  of  him  that  uses  it :  the  servant  does  not  say, 
"  I  have  done  as  thou  hast  commanded,"  but,  "  It  is  done 
as  thou  hast  commanded."  A  true  minister  of  the  gospel 
is  content  to  be  merged  in  the  shadow  of  his  blessed  Mas- 
ter ;  the  less  we  think  about  the  manner  of  the  minister, 
and  the  more  we  are  brought  to  think  about  his  matter, 
and  about  his  Master  above  all,  the  more  excellent  in 
itself  and  suitable  to  us  that  preaching  is.  Whatever  in 
the  pulpit,  or  in  the  worship,  attracts  from  the  great  object 
— Christ — is  radically  defective,  unchristian,  intolerable. 
All  that  one  says,  all  the  illustrations  that  one  uses,  should 
only  set  forth  more  distinctly,  and  with  sharper  outline, 
more  prominently,  all  but  exclusively,  Christ  and  him 
crucified.  All  besides  is  subordinate  or  subsidiary  to  this. 
In  preaching  we  must  say  what  Christ  commands.  A 
minister  is  not  to  be  the  echo  of  the  opinions  of  his  people ; 
he  is  not  to  preach  to  the  prejudices,  or  to  pander  to  the 
passions,  but  to  carry  instruction,  conviction,  and  a  sense 
of  duty  to  the  hearts  and  consciences  of  the  people,  and 
they  that  persist,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  in  such  preaching 
will  prove  acceptable  to  their  Divine  Master ;  and  of  their 
hearers  it  will  be  recorded,  as  in  the  case  of  the  two  that 
were  called  in  the  first  chapter  of  John,  they  heard  John 
preach,  but  "  they  followed  Jesus." 

After  the  servant  had  told  the  master,  "  It  is  done  as 


THE    GREAT   FESTIVAL.  41 

thou  hast  commanded,"  he  added  this  remarkable  senti- 
ment, "and  yet  there  is  room."  There  is  plenty  of  room 
at  the  festival  still ;  it  is  true  of  every  sanctuary  on  earth, 
as  it  is  of  the  sanctuary  that  is  on  high — there  is  room. 
There  is  room  for  us  all  in  heaven ;  there  are  harps  that 
are  not  yet  seized  and  touched ;  there  are  mansions  that 
are  not  yet  full  of  happy  tenantry.  Some  of  our  churches 
in  London  are  very  crowded,  and  some  are  nearly  empty ; 
there  is  room  in  the  visible  church ;  and  so  soon  as 
churches  are  overcrowded,  then  the  very  principle  that 
overcrowds  one  will  suggest  the  erection  and  the  opening 
of  another.  There  is  room  in  the  Saviour's  sacrifice ;  for 
his  blood  cleanseth  from  all  the  sins  of  all  that  will. 
There  is  room  in  the  Father's  bosom ;  for  he  waits  to 
welcome  and  receive  us.  There  is  room  for  Jew  and 
Greek,  for  bond  and  free,  for  male  and  female  ;  for  there 
is  no  distinction.  There  is  no  brand  of  reprobation  upon 
any  man's  brow ;  there  is  an  invitation  of  welcome  lying 
at  every  man's  door;  and  if  any  find  their  everlasting 
abode  to  be  in  the  depths  of  ruin,  they  will  never  feel  that 
they  could  not  get  to  heaven  because  there  was  no  room ; 
but  solely  that  they  would  not  go  to  heaven,  because  they 
loved  sin  better  than  holiness,  and  the  world  better  than 
Christ.  There  is  room  for  the  greatest  sinner,  room  for 
the  most  inveterate,  room  for  all  that  will.  The  grand 
amnesty  that  is  to  be  proclaimed  from  the  pulpit  every 
time  we  enter  it  is,  that  God  waits  for  men,  that  they  have 
not  to  wait  for  him,  that  there  is  room  for  all  that  will. 
But  a  day  comes  when  the  doors  will  be  shut,  and  there 
will  be  no  access  or  admission  any  more : — the  sun  of 
grace  will  then  have  set,  and  the  cycles  of  eternity  will 
have  begun. 

After  the  servant  had  said,  yet  there  is  room,  and  there 
seemed  no  probability  of  filling  it  from  the  streets  and  the 

4* 


42  FORESHADOWS. 

lanes  of  the  city,  the  Master  said,  "Go  out  into  the  high- 
ways and  hedges,  and  compel  them  to  come  in."  There  is 
a  beautiful  idea  couched  in  this.  So  long  the  offer  was 
addressed  to  the  Jew,  and  to  the  Jew  alone ;  but  when  the 
Jew  rejected  it,  or  rather,  when  all  the  Jews  that  accepted 
the  invitation  still  left  abundance  of  room,  then  Christ 
says,  "Turn  to  the  Gentiles,"  or  it  may  be,  the  very 
lowest  of  the  Jews :  "  go  beyond  this  city,  go  beyond  these 
walls ;  go  now  to  the  hedges,  and  country-places,  and 
highways,  and  there  compel  them  to  come  in."  And  so  the 
apostles  did.  They  commenced  their  toils  at  Jerusalem, 
but  their  mission  closes  only  •with  the  limits  of  the  earth, 
and  with  the  centuries  of  this  dispensation.  So  Jesus  made 
the  first  offer  to  the  lost  sheep  of  Israel ;  but  when  they 
rejected  it,  then  he  turned  from  the  Jew,  and  commanded 
the  gospel  to  be  addressed  to  the  Gentile.  And  by  all 
this  our  Lord  teaches  us  that  Christianity  was  not  meant 
to  be  the  monopoly  of  a  party,  but  to  be  the  proffered 
privilege  of  all  mankind.  It  was  not  to  be  a  lamp  for 
Jerusalem,  but  a  luminary  for  all  the  world ;  it  was  not  to 
be  a  ministry  of  mercy  for  a  corner,  but  an  embassy  of 
love  for  all  mankind.  "  Go  out  into  the  highways  and 
hedges,  and  offer  the  same  gospel  there ;  offer  the  same 
privilege,  inviting  to  the  same  great  festival;"  and  then  it 
is  added,  "Compel  them  to  come  in."  A  distinguished 
writer  in  the  Romish  communion,  Cardinal  Bellarrnine, 
has  quoted  this  text  as  a  proof  that  the  church  ought  to 
compel  by  physical  force  heretics  to  come  into  the  fold  of 
the  true  church,  and  be  what  he  calls  "  Catholics."  He 
says,  this  is  an  express  permission  to  go  and  compel  them 
to  come  in.  Now,  in  the  first  place,  it  would  strike,  I 
should  think,  a  very  superficial  reader  of  the  passage, 
that  such  a  conclusion  drawn  from  this  parable  is  inad- 
missible: for  whom  did  Christ  send  out?  A  solitary 


THE   GREAT    FESTIVAL.  43 

servant.  How  could  such  a  one  without  weapons  in  his 
hands  compel  ten  hundred,  or  ten  thousand,  or  ten  millions, 
by  force  to  come  in.  It  needs  but  to  be  looked  at  in  order 
to  see  that  such  an  inference  is  inadmissible.  But  if  it  was 
an  invitation  to  a  feast,  what  use  could  there  be  for  com- 
pulsion by  physical  force  ?  Besides,  if  they  had  driven 
them  in  by  force,  they  could  not  have  compelled  them  to 
eat  when  they  did  come  in.  It  assumes  that  those  who  do 
come,  feel  hungry  and  will  eat  what  is  set  before  them. 
So  the  expression,  "Compel  them  to  come  in,"  means, 
compel  them  by  argument,  by  the  force  of  moral  suasion, 
by  commending  the  thing  to  their  consciences,  by  showing 
that  it  is  so  great  a  privilege  that  they  shall  be  compelled 
by  a  force  stronger  than  that  of  swords,  mightier  than 
armies — the  obligation,  the  sacred  obligation  of  conscience 
— to  come  in,  and  partake  of  those  benefits  that  are  pro- 
vided for  them  in  the  gospel.  Unquestionably,  force  is 
forbidden  in  the  pages  of  the  gospel  as  an  ally  to  its 
invitation.  We  must  neither  unsheath  the  sword,  nor  light 
the  fagot,  nor  in  any  similar  way  try  to  make  men  Chris- 
tians by  force.  You  may  bribe  men  to  come  in,  but  you 
will  only  have  a  congregation  of  hypocrites  by  such  a 
process.  You  may  compel  men  by  physical  force,  and 
crowd  them  within  four  walls,  but  you  will  only  have  re- 
luctant and  rebellious  worshippers.  But  if  you  can  com- 
pel them  by  the  far  loftier  course  of  securing  the  con- 
viction of  their  judgments,  the  approbation  of  conscience, 
the  attention  of  love,  then  you  have  exercised  a  power 
over  them  mightier  than  any  physical  coercion — a  power 
under  which  they  will  move  with  alacrity  and  joy  to  the 
acceptance  of  those  grand  and  precious  blessings  which 
are  set  before  them  in  every  page  of  the  everlasting 
gospel. 

We  read,  in  a  parable  almost  parallel  with  this,  which  I 


44  FORESHADOWS. 

will  consider  in  our  next,  that  when  Christ  came  in  to  look 
at  the  guests,  he  saw  a  man  not  having  on  a  wedding  gar- 
ment. I  can  only  briefly  notice  this.  In  the  halls  of  an- 
cient mansions  there  were  hung  up  robes  in  sufficient 
abundance  for  the  guests,  and  each  guest  invited  to  the 
feast  was  required  to  put  on  one  of  these  robes.  The  only 
custom  at  all  like  it  with  us  is  found  at  funerals,  where 
cloaks  are  provided  by  the  relatives  of  the  deceased,  clothed 
in  which  the  mourners  accompany  the  remains  of  the  de- 
parted to  their  rest.  In  ancient  times  the  master  who 
invited  a  guest  to  dine  with  him,  gave  him  a  cloak  or  gar- 
ment in  which  he  was  to  sit  at  his  table  and  partake  of  his 
hospitality;  and  to  refuse  to  put  on  that  robe  was  to  insult 
the  master  of  the  house,  and  to  disqualify  the  guest  from 
joining  in  the  feast.  Persons  say,  this  "wedding  garment" 
meant  a  suitable  state  of  heart:  no  doubt  this  is  re- 
quired, because,  unless  they  had  that  suitable  state  of  heart, 
they  would  not  have  accepted  it ;  but  yet  it  was  something 
that  the  master  of  the  feast  provided  for  them,  it  was  some- 
thing not  in  them,  but  on  them,  and  it  was  so  accessible 
that  there  was  no  excuse  for  not  wearing  it.  It  is  a  right- 
eousness not  in  us,  but  upon  us, — the  robe  of  a  Redeemer's 
righteousness,  the  wedding  garment  of  a  Redeemer's  obe- 
dience, which  he  gives  us,  that  in  it  we  may  sit  down  with 
Abraham  and  Isaac  and  Jacob,  and  be  partakers  of  the 
everlasting  joys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  I  have  thus 
explained  the  gospel  feast ;  I  have  tried,  in  the  simplest 
terms,  to  describe  the  most  precious  of  truths.  Have  we 
approached  this  festival  by  faith,  and  eaten  and  drank  and 
been  satisfied?  If  not,  we  are  still  spending  our  money 
for  that  which  is  not  bread,  and  our  labour  for  that  which 
satisfieth  not. 

This  festival  is  only  a  foreshadow  of  a  future  and  the 
heavenly  one.     He  that  sits  not  down  with  Christ  in  this 


THE   GREAT   FESTIVAL.  45 

feast  below,  will  never  sit  down  with  Christ,  and  Abraham 
and  Isaac  and  Jacob,  in  that  rich  festival  which  is  above. 
The  first  is  the  pathway  to  the  last.  We  must  accept 
Christ  crucified,  or  we  never  can  be  accepted  by  Christ 
glorified.  We  must  eat  bread  with  him  upon  earth,  if  ever 
we  hope  to  eat  bread  with  him  in  heaven ;  and  blessed  are 
they  that  eat  bread  with  him  here,  that  they  may  eat  of 
that  bread  and  drink  of  that  cup  afresh  in  the  kingdom 
of  their  Father. 


46 


LECTURE   III. 

THE     KOYAL    FEAST. 

And  Jesus  answered  and  spake  unto  them  again  by  parables,  and  said,  The  king, 
dom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  certain  king,  which  made  a  marriage  for  his  son, 
and  sent  forth  his  servants  to  call  them  that  were  bidden  to  the  wedding :  and 
they  would  not  come.  Again,  he  sent  forth  other  servants,  saying,  Tell  them 
which  are  bidden,  Behold,  I  have  prepared  my  dinner :  my  oxen  and  my  fallings 
are  killed,  and  all  things  are  ready :  come  unto  the  marriage.  But  they  made 
light  of  it,  and  went  their  ways,  one  to  his  farm,  another  to  his  merchandise  : 
and  the  remnant  took  his  servants,  and  entreated  them  spitefully,  and  slew 
them.  But  when  the  king  heard  thereof,  he  was  wroth  :  and  he  sent  forth 
his  armies,  and  destroyed  those  murderers,  and  burned  up  their  city.  Then 
saith  he  to  his  servants,  The  wedding  is  ready,  but  they  which  were  bidden 
were  not  worthy.  Go  ye  therefore  into  the  highways,  and  as  many  as  ye  shall 
find,  bid  to  the  marriage.  So  those  servants  went  out  into  the  highways,  and 
gathered  together  all  as  many  as  they  found,  both  bad  and  good :  and  the 
wedding  was  furnished  with  guests.  And  when  the  king  came  in  to  see  the 
guests,  he  saw  there  a  man  which  had  not  on  a  wedding  garment:  and  he  saith 
unto  him,  Friend,  how  earnest  thou  in  hither  not  having  a  wedding  garment? 
And  he  was  speechless.  Then  said  the  king  to  his  servants,  Bind  him  hand 
and  foot,  and  take  him  away,  and  cast  him  into  outer  darkness ;  there  shall 
be  weeping  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  For  many  are  called,  but  few  are  chosen. 
— MATT.  xxii.  1-14. 

THIS  parable  is  perfectly  distinct  from  Luke  xiv.  16-24. 
That  of  Luke  occurred  at  a  meal,  while  Matthew's  occurred 
in  the  temple :  the  former  also  took  place  at  an  earlier  pe- 
riod, the  latter  at  a  much  later.  In  the  former  the  hosti- 
lity of  the  Pharisees  was  not  yet  so  intensely  expressed ; 
but  in  the  latter  case  their  hostility  and  hatred  to  the  Son 
of  man  had  risen  to  its  highest  possible  pitch.  In  Luke's 
narrative,  and  at  the  era  of  the  occurrence  he  records, 
there  was  some  hope  of  softening  down  and  winning  to  a 
better  mind,  and  therefore  all  is  gentle  and  persuasive :  at 


THE    KOVAL   FEAST.  47 

the  time  of  St.  Matthew's  narrative  there  seems  to  have 
been  left  no  hope,  and  therefore  there  is  a  tone  of  stern 
and  unsparing  severity.  Our  Lord  thus  adapted  his  teach- 
ing, not  his  principles,  to  the  circumstances  and  the  per- 
sons among  whom  he  was  placed.  In  the  first  instance, 
the  excuses  wear  an  air  of  plausibility  and  importance;  in 
the  second  no  excuse  is  pleaded,  but  there  is  exhibited 
instead,  violence,  insolence  and  contempt.  In  the  first 
instance  the  deceived  excuse-makers  were  excluded ;  but  in 
the  second  their  city  is  burned  up  with  fire,  and  they  them- 
selves are  utterly  destroyed.  In  Luke's  the  thought  is, 
that  the  gospel  should  be  taken  away  from  the  Jews,  the 
priests,  and  the  Pharisees,  and  passed  over  to  Gentiles,  or 
perhaps  the  very  least  esteemed  of  the  people.  In  Mat- 
thew's, the  Pharisees  finally  cease,  and  the  Gentiles  are 
represented  as  taking  the  place  of  the  Jews,  who  had  lost 
their  privileges,  and  perished  from  their  possession.  Thus 
we  see  the  perfect  consistency  and  harmony  of  these  pa- 
rables with  the  circumstances,  the  time,  the  position,  and 
the  audience  of  our  Lord.  They  are  not  the  same  story 
diversely  and  contradictorily  told,  as  a  modern  skeptic 
alleges,  but  two  distinct  occurrences,  told  each  with  the 
inimitable  simplicity  of  inspired  truth. 

Let  us  notice  also  how  Christ  opens  up  his  character  in 
these  two.  In  Luke's  narrative,  the  earlier  parable — we 
read  of  the  householder's  son ;  but  in  Matthew's,  which  is 
the  later,  we  read  of  the  son  of  the  king.  The  domestic 
relationship,  soft  and  beautiful,  predominates  in  the  one. 
The  royal  dignity,  august  and  solemn,  starts  into  view  in 
the  other.  Progression  is  still  the  law  of  the  Christian 
dispensation.  He  who  now  pleads  as  an  elder  Brother, 
will  come  soon  as  the  royal  Bridegroom.  This  narrative 
is  in  fact  that  of  a  festival  and  marriage  combined.  Here 
is  the  espousal ;  in  Revelation  xix.  7,  there  is  the  marriage 


48  FORESHADOWS. 

— "Let  us  be  glad  and  rejoice,  and  give  honour  to  him: 
for  the  marriage  of  the  Lamb  is  come,  and  his  wife  hath 
made  herself  ready."  The  great  marriage  festival  will  be 
celebrated  when  the  last  believer  has  been  claimed,  and  the 
company  of  the  redeemed  has  been  made  complete. 

We  read,  in  the  narrative  which  we  have  selected  as  the 
subject  of  thought,  of  "  them  that  were  bidden."  This 
great  festival  was  no  novelty :  men  were  not  bidden  to  it 
then  for  the  first  time.  The  same  ample  provision  was 
made  from  the  very  first  announcement  of  the  gospel  in 
Eden,  and  sinners  were  invited  to  partake  of  it  without 
money  and  without  price.  The  soul  of  man  never  had  any 
other  nutriment  than  the  "bread  of  life,"  nor  heaven  any 
other  way  to  it  than  that  which  was  predicted  in  Paradise, 
and  perfected  on  Calvary.  Men  were  bidden  to  the  great 
festival  of  love  by  patriarchs,  and  prophets,  and  priests ; 
by  the  sweet  music  of  David's  harp,  and  by  the  thunders 
of  Sinai's  mount ;  by  the  flaming  cherubim,  and  by  the 
desolating  flood ;  by  Abel's  blood,  and  Abraham's  sacri- 
fice ;  by  the  bow  on  Ararat,  by  the  pillar  of  fire,  by  types, 
by  sacrifices,  by  John  the  Baptist.  All  were  voices  that 
preceded  that  of  the  Son  of  man,  sounding  forth  along  the 
ages  the  glorious  invitation,  often  uttered  and  often  de- 
spised, "Come  unto  me;"  and  adding  often  the  painful 
remonstrance,  "Ye  will  not  come  unto  me,  that  ye  may 
have  life."  We  are  now  summoned  in  yet  clearer  accents, 
in  more  thrilling  tones.  We  were  bidden  before  ;  we  are 
beseeched  and  exhorted  affectionately  now. 

"Again,  he  sent  forth  other  servants."  This  invitation 
was  addressed  to  the  Jews,  we  may  fairly  suppose,  after 
the  crucifixion  of  the  Son  of  God,  when  Stephen,  Paul 
and  Barnabas,  and  Peter  and  John,  endowed  with  new 
power  from  on  high,  and  capable  of  a  more  persuasive  elo- 
quence, went  forth  after  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  and  the 


THE   ROYAL   FEAST.  49 

Penticostal  effusion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  and  pro- 
claimed the  grand  embassy  of  the  everlasting  gospel :  Acts 
iv.  12,  "Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other:  for  there 
is  none  other  name  given  among  men,  whereby  we  must 
be  saved."  How  glorious  was  this  message!  how  rich  In 
grace  !  how  unparalleled  for  its  condescending  love  !  "He 
whom  ye  crucified  waits  to  forgive  you.  The  blood  you 
shed  in  murderous  revenge  is  ready  to  plead  for  you,  to 
cleanse  you,  and  to  spare  you.  You  have  been  bidden 
once  to  these  great  blessings,  and  you  have  refused :  once 
more  we  invite  you.  Through  ignorance  you  refused  the 
first  invitation  :  you  were  not  convinced  ;  new  facts  have 
now  occurred,  new  light  has  dawned,  a  new  demonstration 
of  the  glory  of  Jesus  has  swept  before  your  vision.  Far 
heavier  responsibility  now  rests  upon  you  than  ever  rested 
before.  You  are  welcome,  nevertheless,  once  more,  just 
as  you  are.  The  past  will  alike  be  forgotten  and  forgiven. 
God's  forbearance  is  inexhaustibly  rich ;  you  must  cease 
to  hear  before  God  will  cease  to  call.  Come,  and  be  saved, 
and  be  happy." 

"  They  made  light  of  it,  and  went  their  ways,  one  to  his 
farm,  another  to  his  merchandise :  and  the  remnant  took 
his  servants,  and  entreated  them  spitefully,  and  slew 
them."  The  first  went  to  his  estate  :  he  was  a  landholder, 
who  went  to  enjoy  what  he  had  possessed  by  inheritance. 
The  second  went  to  his  merchandise :  he  was  plainly  a 
prosperous  merchant,  who  went  to  add  to  his  capital,  and 
gain  what  he  had  not  yet  reached.  These  two  are  in  fact 
the  two  great  divisions  of  the  men  of  this  world — those 
that  have  and  are  full,  those  that  have  not,  but  hope  and 
toil  to  have.  The  one  is  full,  and  feels  not  his  need  of  a 
feast  which  has  no  attraction  for  his  carnal  and  sensual 
appetite.  The  other  is  empty,  but  fancies  that  the  only 
supply  must  come  from  the  broken  cisterns  of  earth ;  and 


50  FORESHADOWS 

on  these  grounds  they  are  absorbed  in  the  world ;  they 
cannot  appreciate  the  gospel ;  they  make  light  of  the  in- 
vitation, and  perish  ignorant  of  it.  But  behind  and  beyond 
these  two  classes,  who  seem  glued  to  the  earth,  and  utterly 
lost  in  its  supposed  enjoyments,  there  looms  into  view 
another  class,  who  reject  the  invitation  on  totally  different 
grounds — "And  the  remnant  took  his  servants,  and  en- 
treated them  spitefully,  and  slew  them."  The  first  class 
perished  from  excessive  love  of  the  worldly ;  the  second, 
from  desperate  enmity  to  the  holy  and  the  heavenly.  The 
one  was  full  of  the  love  of  the  world ;  the  other  burned 
with  hatred  of  the  truth.  The  one  inherited  their  feelings 
from  fallen  nature;  the  other  received  theirs  from  demoni- 
acal wickedness.  The  first  class  rejected  the  invitation 
because  they  were  too  much  occupied,  and  had  no  time  to 
give  hospitality  to  any  consideration  of  the  subject ;  the 
second  rejected  it  because  it  wounded  their  pride,  lowered 
their  imaginary  dignity,  pronounced  as  worthless  in  the 
sight  of  God  the  self-righteousness  in  which  they  gloried 
in  the  sight  of  man,  and  insisted  that  they  should  come  in 
the  crowd  of  publicans  and  sinners  to  the  great  festival  of 
love ;  and  therefore  they  rose  in  wrath  against  the  invita- 
tion, and  slew  them  that  graciously  made  it,  or,  as  it  is 
described  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  iv.  3,  "  They  laid 
hands  on  them,  and  put  them  in  hold."  Acts  v.  40,  "  They 
entreated  them  spitefully" — or,  "They  called  the  apostles, 
and  beat  them."  Acts  xiv.  5,  "There  was  an  assault 
made  both  of  the  Gentiles,  and  also  of  the  Jews  with  their 
rulers,  to  use  them  despitefully,  and  to  stone  them."  Acts 
vii.  59,  "They  stoned  Stephen,  calling  upon  God,  and  say- 
ing, Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit." — Or  as  it  is  in  Mat- 
thew xxiii.  34,  "I  send  unto  you  prophets,  and  wise  men, 
and  scribes :  and  some  of  them  ye  shall  kill  and  crucify ; 
and  some  of  them  shall  ye  scourge  in  your  synagogues, 


THE   ROYAL   FEAST.  51 

and  persecute  them  from  city  to  city."  Thus  the  indiffer- 
ence of  the  world  breaks  out  into  enmity  against  God. 
The  vicissitudes  of  time  scatter  their  estates  and  leave 
them  desolate,  or  the  words  of  the  gospel  reach  their  con- 
sciences and  disquiet  them ;  and  the  apathy  they  previously 
felt  kindles  into  intense  hatred,  and  that  hatred  burns  into 
persecution,  and  persecution  completes  its  cycle  in  mur- 
dering the  prophets  and  servants  of  the  Lord.  All  eccle- 
siastical history  is  more  or  less  a  painful  commentary  upon 
these  truths.  Truth  comes  into  a  world  of  falsehood, 
holiness  into  a  world  of  sin,  love  into  a  world  of  hatred, 
God  into  a  world  of  atheists ;  and  thus,  not  peace,  but  a 
sword  is  the  instantaneous  and  inevitable  result.  All  who 
refuse  the  gospel  on  either  of  these  grounds,  are  guilty  of 
the  great  offence  recorded  in  the  passage,  of  "  making 
light"  of  its  precious  invitation. 

Some  make  light  of  it  from  ignorance.  They  are,  in 
the  language  of  Scripture,  "alienated  from  the  life  of 
God,  through  the  ignorance  that  is  in  them."  Had  they 
known,  they  would  not  have  crucified  the  Lord  of  glory. 
But  ignorance  palliates,  while  it  does  not  remove  sin.  "If 
thou  knewest  the  gift  of  God,"  said  the  Saviour,  "thou 
wouldest  have  asked  of  him,  and  he  would  have  given  thee 
living  water."  The  natural  heart  has  no  idea  of  any  other 
peace,  joy,  or  repose,  than  that  which  grows  on  earth,  or 
may  be  collected  from  the  scenes  of  time. 

Men,  too,  make  light  of  the  invitations  of  the  gospel  from 
insensibility.  They  are  utterly  unconscious  of  their  disease, 
they  do  not  feel  their  hunger,  they  think  they  are  well,  and 
need  not  a  physician  ;  they  say  they  are  rich  and  increased 
in  goods,  and  have  need  of  nothing ;  and,  of  course,  a  great 
prescription  for  recovery  never  can  be  welcomed  by  those 
who  have  no  clear  conception  of  their  moral  and  actual 
disease  and  ruin. 


52  FORESHADOWS. 

Indisposition,  too,  accounts  for  men  making  light  of  the 
invitations  of  the  gospel.  There  are  men  who  have  no  taste 
for  its  lofty  and  its  spiritual  joys ;  they  do  not  like  its  un- 
compromising demands ;  they  cannot  afford  to  be  Christians ; 
they  dare  not  be  skeptics,  and  they  will  not  be  Christians ; 
and  without  using  the  language  of  positive  rejection,  they 
halt  between  two  opinions,  which  practically  is  to  make 
light  of  the  gospel. 

This  treatment  may  arise  also  from  positive  enmity  to 
the  truth.  Many  spurn  to  be  classed  in  the  list  of  misera- 
ble sinners.  They  have  no  idea  of  their  good  and  generous 
deeds  being  reckoned  as  nothing  in  the  way  of  a  title  to 
heaven.  They  cannot  bring  their  minds  to  be  wise  in  an- 
other's wisdom,  and  righteous  in  another's  righteousness ; 
and  therefore  the  preachers  of  the  truth  are  regarded  by 
them  as  mere  troublers  of  the  people,  who  turn  the  world 
upside  down,  and  for  no  good  or  practical  purpose  upon 
earth.  The  last  class,  however,  is  the  most  consistent  of 
all.  Such  is  the  nature,  and  such  are  the  demands  of 
Christianity,  that  consistency  requires  that  we  should  either 
utterly  repudiate  it,  and  war  with  it  as  an  intrusive  impos- 
ture, or  cordially  and  affectionately  accept  it  as  the  em- 
bassy of  love,  and  message  of  eternal  truth,  the  ambas- 
sadress of  God,  the  benefactress  of  mankind. 

But  the  practical  application  of  the  subject  requires  me 
to  ask,  do  we  make  light  of  it  ?  That  multitudes  do  so  is 
a  painful  and  transparent  fact ;  and  some  there  may  be, 
who  read  this,  who  have  never  yet  seriously  inquired  whether 
the  Bible  be  from  God,  or  if  heaven  and  hell,  a  judgment- 
seat  and  eternal  retributions,  be  any  other  than  old  heathen 
or  Romish  fables.  How  many  are  there,  who  sit  with  in- 
finite decorum  in  the  sanctuary,  and  acquiesce  unmurmur- 
ing in  every  statement  that  is  made,  and  yet  have  no  part 
of  the  life  of  God.  Ezek.  xxxiii.  30-32,  "Also,  thou  son 


THE   ROYAL   FEAST.  53 

of  man,  the  children  of  thy  people  still  are  talking  against 
thee  by  the  walls  and  in  the  doors  of  the  houses,  and  speak 
one  to  another,  every  one  to  his  brother,  saying,  Come,  I 
pray  you,  and  hear  what  is  the  word  that  cometh  forth 
from  the  Lord.  And  they  come  unto  thee  as  the  people 
cometh,  and  they  sit  before  thee  as  my  people,  and  they 
hear  thy  words,  but  they  will  not  do  them :  for  with  their 
mouth  they  show  much  love,  but  their  heart  goeth  after 
their  covetousness.  And,  lo,  thou  art  unto  them  as  a  very 
lovely  song  of  one  that  hath  a  pleasant  voice,  and  can  play 
well  on  an  instrument :  for  they  hear  thy  words,  but  they 
do  them  not."  With  the  preacher  they  denounce  the  sin 
of  idolatry,  and  yet  clasp  their  idols  closer  to  their  bosom. 
They  lament  the  worldliness  of  the  world,  and  they  retire 
to  their  farm  and  to  their  merchandise  with  no  thought  be- 
yond it.  They  grieve  over  desecrated  Sabbaths,  and  yet 
are  strangers  to  any  Sabbath  thoughts.  How  many,  who 
are  prudent  in  all  the  things  of  time,  yet  make  light  of 
and  utterly  despise  the  things  of  eternity !  How  many 
provide  for  old  age,  their  families,  their  profits  in  the  world, 
and  yet  make  light  of  the  stupendous  concerns  and  inex- 
haustible issues  of  a  world  to  come ! 

We  may  judge  of  our  state  in  reference  to  this  sin,  first, 
by  our  thoughts.  What  is  it  that  absorbs  them  ?  Around 
what  centre  do  they  rally  ?  It  is  literally  true,  as  a  man 
thinks,  so  is  he.  Has  salvation  ever  occupied  one  solemn 
hour,  one  calm  and  weighty  consideration,  one  minute  of 
anxious  and  suspensive  thought  ?  You  have  thought  anxious- 
ly on  a  thousand  other  topics,  have  you  thought  anxiously 
on  this  one  ?  Is  it  your  conviction — the  conviction  of  your 
heart  as  well  as  of  your  head — that  God  has  become  man, 
and  suffered  and  died  upon  the  cross,  in  order  that  you 
sinners  might  be  saved ;  and  yet,  has  this  exercised  no 
plastic  influence,  and  communicated  no  divine  tone  to  your 


54  FORESHADOWS. 

character  and  conduct  ?  Christianity  is  not  a  system  out 
of  us,  wherever  it  saves,  but  a  life  within  us. 

We  may  judge  of  it  by  our  conversation.  What  is  your 
predominating  conversation  in  your  homes  ?  Are  you  elo- 
quent on  all  the  cares  and  concerns  of  life,  on  the  market, 
on  politics,  on  money,  on  ecclesiastical  quarrels,  but  always 
silent,  hopelessly  silent,  on  the  soul  and  eternity  ?  «  Out 
of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh."  Psal. 
cxlv.  4-7,  "  One  generation  shall  praise  thy  works  to  an- 
other, and  shall  declare  thy  mighty  acts.  I  will  speak  of 
the  glorious  honour  of  thy  majesty,  and  of  thy  wondrous 
works.  And  men  shall  speak  of  the  might  of  thy  terrible 
acts  :  and  I  will  declare  thy  greatness.  They  shall  abun- 
dantly utter  the  memory  of  thy  great  goodness,  and  shall 
sing  of  thy  righteousness."  A  Christian  cannot  be  dumb, 
if  he  really  be  one.  "  Come,  all  ye  that  fear  God,  and  I 
will  tell  you  what  he  has  done  for  my  soul,"  is  an  invitation 
as  natural  as  it  is  scriptural. 

Let  me  ask  again,  what  are  your  chief  cares  and  anxi- 
eties ?  Are  these,  "What  shall  I  eat  ?  what  shall  I  drink? 
and  wherewithal  shall  I  be  clothed  ?"  or  is  it,  "What  must 
I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  The  whole  gospel  shows  its  eminently 
practical  character  in  this,  that  it  answers  no  curious  and 
idle  questions,*  but  ever  presses  present,  practical  duties. 
"Are  there  few  that  be  saved  ?"  is  a  query  it  replies  to  by 
saying,  "Strive  to  enter  in  at  the  strait  gate."  Is  your 
anxiety  about  your  children,  how  they  shall  play  their  part 
in  the  world,  or  how  they  shall  stand  before  God  ?  Would 
you  rather  they  were  accomplished  than  Christian,  that 
they  enjoyed  the  admiration  of  mankind,  than  secured  the 
approval  of  Him  that  made  them  ?  Would  you  rather  that 
your  country  were  rich,  than  holy;  renowned  in  war,  than 
beautiful  by  peace;  the  envy  of  nations,  rather  than  the 
accepted  and  the  favoured  of  God?  Would  you  rather 


THE   ROYAL   FEAST.  55 

•H? 

that  your  church  were  dominant,  and  numerous,  and  rich 
in  the  face  of  rivals,  than  pure,  and  spiritual,  and  unworldly, 
and  consecrated  entirely  to  God? 

Our  actions,  too,  are  no  mean  exponents  of  our  feeling 
on  this  point.  Are  these  just,  beneficent,  beautiful,  true  ? 
Arc  they  as  fragrant  fruits,  the  products  of  Scriptual  prin- 
ciples ?  Do  you  ever  make  a  sacrifice  for  Christ's  sake, 
and  for  his  sake  alone,  and  without  respect  to  what  the 
right  hand  sees,  or  what  your  neighbour  thinks  ?  Do  you 
study  the  Scriptures  ?  Do  you  pray  ?  When  the  profits 
or  the  honours  of  the  world  point  one  way,  and  the  con- 
victions of  conscience  and  the  prescriptions  of  the  word 
of  God  point  directly  in  the  opposite,  can  you  count  all 
but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  Christ  ? 

You  may  make  light  of  the  gospel,  but  nevertheless  it  is 
true.  All  the  experience  of  man,  all  the  attributes  of 
Deity  proclaim  it.  It  never  ihas  been  proved  to  be  false, 
it  never  can  be  proved  to  be  so.  You  make  light,  there- 
fore, of  that  which  is  clear  and  more  glorious  than  the 
sun.  Your  conduct  pronounces  it  a  fable,  your  resistance 
calls  God  a  liar.  You  make  light  of  the  most  important 
subject  in  the  whole  universe.  It  is  a  faithful  saying,  and 
worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners.  You  may  be  insensible  to  this  now, 
but  you  will  feel  it  one  day.  Conscience  will  awaken  from 
her  stupor,  and  speak  yet  uncompromisingly.  Cease.there- 
fore  to  slight  now  what  alone  can  save  you ;  lay  aside  the 
fears  of  the  slave,  the  apathy  of  the  infidel,  and  decide 
for  God.  Christianity  is  either  an  imposture,  or  it  is 
infinitely  momentous.  It  either  enunciates  direct  un- 
truths, or  it  is  the  most  momentous  topic  to  which  man 
ever  directed  his  anxious  attention.  You  incur  great 
guilt,  whether  you  are  conscious  of  it  or  not :  you  not  only 


56  FORESHADOWS. 

retain  all  the  guilt  of  a  violated  law,  but  you  incur  the 
additional  guilt  of  neglecting  the  only  remedy.  You  pro- 
nounce your  character,  ruined  and  vitiated  by  sin,  good 
enough  for  the  acceptance  of  God ;  and  the  grand  remedy 
provided  by  the  cross  of  Christ  you  gratuitously  despise, 
and  proclaim  to  have  been  utterly  uncalled  for  and  unne- 
cessary. You  defy  the  judgments,  you  trample  on  the 
mercies  of  the  Eternal.  Sinai  has  no  terrors  for  you,  and 
Calvary  has  no  attractions ;  and  this,  not  from  want  of 
welcome  on  the  part  of  God,  or  of  deep  need  in  your  own 
condition,  but  pure  unwillingness :  you  alone — the  most 
interested  in  the  matter  of  all  creatures  in  the  universe — 
strangely  and  inconsistently  make  light  of  it.  Satan  does 
not ;  for  he  toils  to  arrest  and  neutralize  its  glorious  pro- 
gress. Angels  do  not ;  for  they  desire  to  look  into  these 
things,  and  rejoice  ever  as  they  hear  that  a  sinner  repents, 
and  returns  to  God.  Saints  on  earth  do  not ;  for  they 
glory  in  the  cross,  and  sympathize  with  all  their  fellow- 
soldiers  in  their  career  of  glory.  Saints  in  heaven  do  not ; 
for  they  sing  without  ceasing,  "  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that 
was  slain  to  receive  honour  and  riches  and  glory,  dominion 
and  power."  Jesus  does  not ;  for  it  is  the  travail  of  his 
soul ;  he  longs  to  see  its  fruits,  and  be  satisfied.  God  does 
not ;  for  he  keeps  the  earth  in  its  orbit,  and  sends  seed- 
time and  harvest,  and  raises  up  and  pulls  down,  and  orders 
and  regulates  all,  to  give  space,  warning,  motive  to  those 
who  are  now  slighting  the  gospel.  "  How  shall  we  escape," 
we  may  well  ask,  "if  we  neglect" — not  reject — "so  great 
salvation?"  The  freeness  of  the  offer,  the  completeness 
of  the  provision,  the  earnestness  of  the  invitation,  all 
indicate  what  responsibility  we  incur.  It  is  not  feeble- 
ness, nor  folly,  to  capitulate  with  God :  it  is  duty,  it  is 
common  sense,  it  is  privilege,  it  is  safety. 


THE   ROYAL   FEAST.  57 

•p 

Open  thou  our  eyes,  0  Lord,  that  we  may  see  wondrous 
things  out  of  thy  law.  Scatter  our  prejudices,  solve  our 
difficulties,  penetrate  all  our  hearts  with  a  new  and  divine 
sympathy,  with  a  deep  ^sense  of  thine  infinite  mercies, 
and  a  determination,  by  thy  grace,  no  longer  to  make 
light  of  that  which  is  the  weightiest,  the  most  solemn,  and 
the  most  instant  obligation  in  the  whole  of  thy  created 
universe. 


58 


LECTURE   IV. 

% 

A   CONTRAST. 

There  was  a  certain  rich  man,  which  was  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen,  and 
fared  sumptuously  every  day :  and  there  was  a  certain  beggar  named  Laza- 
rus, which  was  laid  at  his  gate,  full  of  sores,  and  desiring  to  be  fed  with  the 
crumbs  which  fell  from  the  rich  man's  table :  moreover  the  dogs  came  and 
licked  his  sores.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  the  beggar  died,  and  was  carried 
by  the  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom :  the  rich  man  also  died,  and  was  buried ; 
and  in  hell  he  lifted  up  his  eyes,  being  in  torments,  and  seeth  Abraham  afar  off, 
and  Lazarus  in  his  bosom.  And  he  cried  and  said,  Father  Abraham,  have 
mercy  on  me,  and  send  Lazarus,  that  he  may  dip  the  tip  of  his  finger  in 
water, and  cool  my  tongue;  for  I  am  tormented  in  this  flame.  But  Abraham 
said,  Son,  remember  that  thou  in  thy  lifetime  receivedst  thy  good  things,  and 
likewise  Lazarus  evil  things ;  but  now  he  is  comforted,  and  thou  art  tormented. 
And  besides  all  this,  between  us  and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed :  so  that 
they  which  would  pass  from  hence  to  you  cannot;  neither  can  they  pass  to 
us  that  would  come  from  thence.  Then  he  said,  I  pray  thee  therefore,  father, 
that  thou  wouldest  send  him  to  my  father's  house :  for  I  have  five  brethren  ; 
that  he  may  testify  unto  them,  lest  they  also  come  into  this  place  of  torment 
Abraham  saith  unto  him,  They  have  Moses  and  the  prophets;  let  them  hear 
them.  And  he  said,  Nay,  father  Abraham :  but  if  one  went  unto  them  from 
the  dead,  they  will  repent.  And  he  said  unto  him,  If  they  hear  not  Moses 
and  the  prophets,  neither  will  they  be  persuaded,  though  one  rose  from  the 
dead. — LUKE  xvi.  19-31. 

IT  is  doubtful  if  this  be  a  parable  or  a  literal  history. 
Part  is  probably  historical,  part  is  figurative ;  but  whether 
it  be  regarded  in  the  one  or  in  the  other  aspect,  the  whole 
statement  is  replete  with  lofty  instruction  and  solemn 
warning  for  all  times  and  persons  and  places.  It  gives  us 
also  a  foreshadow — a  dim  sketch  of  the  future.  Let  us 
prayerfully  study  it.  The  practical  result  plainly  con- 
templated by  our  Lord,  is  a  rebuke  of  that  inordinate  love 
of  wealth  and  self-indulgence  and  ease,  which  has  no  over- 


A  CONTRAST.  59 

flowing  sympathy  with  the  poor,  no  time  or  countenance 
to  spare  for  the  needy ;  which  is  far  more  agitated  and 
affected  by  an  ache  in  its  own  little  finger,  than  by  the  de- 
struction of  a  distant  city,  the  starvation  of  a  numerous 
people,  or  the  bereavement  of  an  afflicted  family.  Such 
personations  of  selfishness  are  not  indigenous  to  any  one 
country,  or  confined  to  any  one  age.  They  are  here,  and 
have  been,  and  will  be,  to  the  end.  "A  certain  rich  man," 
is  the  simple  name  of  the  party  whose  history  is  here 
given.  He  was  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen.  Purple 
in  ancient  times  was  the  most  costly  colour,  indeed  a  royal 
one ;  and  extravagance  and  pride  were  exhibited  by  him, 
who,  not  royal  in  rank,  wore  so  splendid  and  unusual  a 
robe.  It  is  not,  however,  here  alleged  that  there  was  any 
sin  in  the  rich  man  wearing  purple.  If  it  suited  his  rank, 
it  was  right  to  do  so ;  and  if  it  were  not  inconsistent  with 
his  rank,  nothing  is  here  indicated  of  rebuke.  Whether 
he  did  right  or  wrong  in  stepping  beyond  it,  is  a  distinct 
question,  but  it  would  be  no  benefit  to  society  that  the 
great  should  live  and  clothe  themselves  like  the  poor.  He 
was  clothed  also,  it  is  stated,  with  fine  linen.  This  was  a 
sort  of  precious  linen  among  the  ancients,  sold  for  its 
weight  in  the  purest  gold.  It  was  called  lyssus.  It  is 
used  in  the  Apocalypse  as  the  expressive  symbol  of  the 
righteousness  of  Christ,  and  by  its  dazzling  whiteness  it 
was  a  truly  eloquent  figure  of  that  which  has  no  spot  or 
blemish  at  all.  Thus,  the  man  wore  the  costliest  robes  of 
his  age,  combined  in  his  enjoyments  the  highest  comfort 
and  the  greatest  beauty,  and  gratified  his  vanity  and  pride 
at  any  expense.  He  fared  sumptuously  also  every  day, 
lived  in  jovial  splendour,  ate  the  best  and  drank  the  dear- 
est, and  in  the  language  of  the  day,  made  himself  in  all 
respects  most  comfortable.  Notwithstanding  this  rich  in- 
dulgence of  himself,  however  sinful,  there  is  urged  against 


60  FORESHADOWS. 

him  in  the  parable  no  charge  of  positive  dishonesty,  per- 
secution, plunder,  or  oppression  of  the  poor.  He  was 
free  from  every  flagrant  offence,  he  could  be  charged  with 
nothing  of  what  James  states,  (v.  1-6,)  "Go  to  now,  ye 
rich  men,  weep  and  howl  for  your  miseries  that  shall  come 
upon  you.  Your  riches  are  corrupted,  and  your  garments 
are  moth-eaten.  Your  gold  and  silver  is  cankered ;  and 
the  rust  of  them  shall  be  a  witness  against  you,  and  shall 
eat  your  flesh  as  it  were  fire.  Ye  have  heaped  treasure 
together  for  the  last  days.  Behold,  the  hire  of  the  labour- 
ers who  have  reaped  down  your  fields,  which  is  of  you  kept 
back  by  fraud,  crieth :  and  the  cries  of  them  which  have 
reaped  are  entered  into  the  ears  of  the  Lord  of  Sabaoth. 
Ye  have  lived  in  pleasure  on  the  earth,  and  been  wanton ; 
ye  have  nourished  your  hearts,  as  in  a  day  of  slaughter. 
Ye  have  condemned  and  killed  the  just ;  and  he  doth  not 
resist  you."  So  far  he  passed  as  a  creditable  and  respect- 
able country  gentleman.  He  sported  and  read  the  news- 
papers, and  cared  not  to  inquire  whether  his  parish  minister 
preached  law  or  gospel,  or  neither  ;  whether  the  next  vil- 
lage was  starving,  or  without  schools ;  but  took  all  things 
easy,  enjoyed  himself  and  cared  for  nobody.  It  is  singular 
enough  his  name  is  not  mentioned,  whereas  that  of  the 
indigent  beggar  is  stated.  In  this  world  the  name  of  the 
rich  man  was  sounded  by  a  thousand  trumpets,  and  was 
the  title  of  dignity  and  rank.  In  the  heavenly  world  all 
is  reversed ;  the  name  that  was  great  and  musical  below 
is  not  mentioned  there;  the  name  that  was  scorned  in  time 
is  pronounced  with  acclamations  in  eternity.  In  this 
world  the  names  of  the  poor  are  neither  known  nor  pub- 
lished ;  in  the  world  to  come  the  names  of  the  pious  poor 
are  recorded.  Greatness  alone  is  prominent  now;  good- 
ness alone  will  be  prominent  there.  There  is  some  allusion 
to  this  in  the  Kevelation,  (iii.  5,)  "He  that  overcometh,  the 


A   CONTRAST.  61 

same  shall  be  clothed  in  white  raiment ;  and  I  will  not 
blot  out  his  name  out  of  the  book  of  life,  but  I  will  confess 
his  name  before  my  Father,  and  before  his  angels."  Let 
us  prefer  piety  to  power,  substantial  goodness  to  ephemeral 
greatness.  This  obscurity,  if  Christian,  shall  one  day  be- 
come ennobled  and  distinguished :  let  us  see  all  things  in 
that  light  which  puts  the  world's  great  things  in  little  space 
and  the  world's  lasting  things  in  little  time. 

The  great  offence  of  the  rich  man  was  founded  on  the 
spectacle  presented  in  the  following  verse.  A  starving 
beggar  day  by  day  was  lying  at  his  gates  unheeded,  or 
heeded  in  so  penurious  a  manner  as  to  be  insult  rather 
than  benefit.  That  silent  spectacle  accused  him  in  the  ear 
of  God,  that  uncared-for  sufferer,  scarcely  noticed  by  him, 
was  watched  before  the  Throne,  and  the  insensibility  of 
the  rich  man  who  had,  to  the  poor  man  who  had  not,  was 
recorded  as  a  flagrant  and  abominable  crime.  Sins  scarce- 
ly occurring  to  the  rich  man  as  possible  were  reaching 
the  throne  of  God,  and  pleading  against  him  in  the  ears 
of  Him  whose  heritage  is  especially  the  poor.  Lazarus, 
the  name  given  to  the  poor  beggar,  is  abridged  from 
Eleadzar  or  Eleadzon,  which  means,  "  God  only  his  help." 
It  is  evidence  of  the  depth,  the  force,  and  reality  of  this 
grand  parable,  that  it  has  penetrated  with  the  associations 
it  contains  the  language  of  almost  every  nation  :  so  that  in 
every  tongue  of  Europe  a  lazar  is  now  regarded  as  a  de- 
scriptive name  of  the  poor. 

The  poor  man  was  cast  at  the  rich  man's  door,  probably 
by  some  relatives,  who  thus  rid  themselves  of  trouble,  or 
calculated  that  where  there  was  so  much  wealth,  but  very 
erroneously,  there  must  be  corresponding  liberality.  He 
was  placed  under  the  eye  of  the  rich  man ;  so  that  there 
could  be  no  excuse  on  the  plea  that  he  was  ignorant  of  the 
claims  and  the  condition  of  the  beggar.  Though  he  had 


f>2  FORESHADOWS. 

been  ignorant,  that  ignorance  would  have  been  his  fault. 
Why  is  one  wealthy,  possessed  of  leisure,  ministered  to  by 
servants,  surrounded  by  splendid  rank  ?  It  is,  surely,  to 
enable  him  to  take  a  wider  view,  to  move  in  a  larger  ho- 
rizon, to  become  more  fully  acquainted  with  every  case  of 
suffering  and  injustice  around  him.  One  man  is  richer 
than  another,  not  that  he  may  exact  more,  but  that  he  may 
do  more.  If  there  be  poor  on  your  estate,  with  whom  you 
might  have  made  yourself  acquainted ;  if  the  ignorant, 
whom  you  might  have  enlightened,  your  sin  and  respon- 
sibility are  as  great  as  if  either  had  been  placed  in  your 
porch  and  under  your  eyes  every  day.  Lazarus,  no  doubt, 
craved  the  crumbs  that  fell  from  the  rich  man's  table  ;  and 
of  these  even  he  received  but  an  inadequate  supply.  De- 
prived of  sympathy  from  man,  the  dumb  brutes,  with  semi- 
human  instincts,  expressed  their  sympathy  for  the  suffer- 
ing beggar.  Very  often  the  faithful  and  affectionate  dog 
indicates  feelings  far  superior  to  the  master  that  professes 
to  own  him.  And  these  dogs  rebuked  the  rich  man,  and 
are  evidence  that  sin  sinks  the  human  heart  lower  than  the 
condition  of  the  brutes  that  perish.  The  contrast  in  this 
picture  is  complete  :  on  the  one  side  purple,  on  the  other 
rags  ;  the  one  fares  sumptuously,  the  other  desires  to  be 
fed  with  the  crumbs ;  one  has  visitors  of  rank,  his  com- 
pany consisting  probably  of  peers,  his  retinue  a  large  and 
splendid  one ;  the  other  has  the  company  of  dogs.  It  is 
important,  however,  to  distinguish :  the  wealth  of  the  rich 
man  was  not  his  crime,  for  Abraham,  into  whose  bosom 
Lazarus  was  taken,  was  a  rich  man ;  the  poverty  of  La- 
zarus, on  the  other  hand,  was  neither  his  excellence  nor 
his  merit.  The  rich  are  often  gratified  by  hearing  of  the 
ingratitude  and  worthlessness  of  the  poor ;  the  poor  are 
often  pleased  in  hearing  severe  attacks  upon  the  rich  ;  the 
word  of  God  looks  upon  wealth  and  poverty  as  merely  ad- 


A   CONTRAST.  63 

ventitious  characteristics,  having  no  inherent  moral  virtue, 
neither  making  nor  marring  those  that  are  their  subjects. 
Poverty  of  spirit  is  a  spiritual  excellence,  which  poverty 
of  circumstance  may  be  a  stranger  to.  Rich  in  good  works 
is  a  spiritual  virtue,  which  the  wealthiest  may  not  have. 
God  places  us  in  our  respective  states,  and  gives  us  oppor- 
tunities for  exercising  corresponding  virtues. 

Another  fact  it  is  important  to  notice.  In  those  times 
there  was  no  asylum,  or  hospital,  or  poor-house,  to  which 
the  perishing  with  hunger  and  nakedness  might  appeal. 
All  heathendom  was  destitute  of  any  thing  of  the  kind ; 
and  some  modern  heathens  have  been  discovered  who  kill 
the  aged  and  the  infirm,  because  they  must  otherwise 
perish  with  hunger.  It  is  to  Christianity,  the  mother  of 
all  that  beautifies  and  adorns  society,  that  we  are  indebted 
for  hospitals,  asylums,  schools,  and  charities,  and  alms- 
houses  ;  these  are  her  beneficent  and  peculiar  triumphs, 
these  the  fragrant  fruits  that  grow  upon  this  tree  of  life, 
and  with  the  prosperity  and  progress  of  the  tree  will  grow 
and  flourish  these  and  other  fruits  that  are  peculiarly  its 
own.  Whatever  faults  there  may  be  in  our  Poor  Law,  this 
at  least  is  true,  no  human  being  need  perish  in  our  streets 
from  hunger.  The  man  that  denounces  the  gospel  de- 
nounces the  mother  of  the  greatest  and  most  lasting  bless- 
ings. No  language  can  describe  what  we  owe  to  the  Bible  ; 
eternity  alone  can  fully  reveal  it.  A  day  comes  in  which 
the  contrast  between  the  rich  and  the  poor  will  finally 
cease.  These  external  features  shall  all  pass  away ;  the 
poor  shall  be  taken  from  their  rags,  and  the  rich  from  their 
estates,  and  both  shall  stand  at  the  judgment-seat  arrayed 
in  solemn  responsibility  only. 

The  beggar  died,  it  is  stated ;  released  from  his  suffer- 
ings, the  world  would  say ;  was  borne  by  angels  to  Abra- 
ham's bosom,  the  Scriptures  say :  ceased  to  be,  is  the  ver- 


64  FORESHADOWS. 

diet  of  man;  began  to  be,  is  the  statement  of  God.  Every 
Jew  understood  by  "Abraham's  bosom"  a  place  of  perfect 
repose,  communion  and  intimacy  with  the  great  and  good 
in  the  age  to  come.  Here  we  are  taught  that  the  beggar, 
despised  on  earth  and  driven  to  the  company  of  dogs,  is 
received  into  the  bosom  of  Abraham ;  and  they  who  gloried 
that  they  were  Abraham's  children,  the  especial  favourites 
of  Heaven,  whom  no  demerits  could  cast  out,  are  here  re- 
jected. 

Lazarus  died  first.  Thus  the  earliest  death  is  not  the 
evidence  of  judgment ;  the  ripe  is  oftenest  taken,  saints 
are  frequently  gathered  first.  The  rich  man  also  died  and 
was  buried.  God's  forbearing  mercy  was  exhibited  in  this, 
that  the  rich  had  a  longer  day  of  grace,  a  protracted  period 
for  repentance.  He  had  seen  the  beggar  pine  of  hunger 
and  perish  at  his  porch ;  every  opportunity  of  altering  his 
apathy  had  been  offered ;  every  day  he  had  an  opportunity 
to  entertain  an  angel  unawares.  He  despised  all,  neglected 
all,  and  died  as  he  had  lived.  Lazarus  preceded  him  to  the 
judgment-seat  of  Christ.  And  we,  too,  may  learn  that 
our  opportunities  of  good  are  rushing  past,  and  that  now 
or  never  we  may  live,  leading  men  to  recollect  us  as  sharers 
of  blessings,  not  as  cumberers  of  the  ground.  Both  died : 
in  this  respect  there  was  no  distinction,  the  rich  and  the 
poor  thus  meet  together.  The  one  is  borne  by  angels 
to  the  bosom  of  Abraham,  the  other  amid  the  pomp  and 
pageantry  of  a  splendid  funeral.  The  compensation  of  the 
one  is  a  procession  man  could  neither  make  nor  mar,  the 
termination  of  which  was  everlasting  glory.  The  com- 
pensation of  the  other  was  a  procession  man  made,  and 
which  ended  in  everlasting  and  intolerable  torment.  We 
must  care  less  for  the  temporal  tent ;  we  must  care  more 
for  the  divine  inhabitant.  Thus  life  is  compared  by  Au- 
gustine to  a  play.  "  As  on  the  stage  some  enter  assuming 


A   CONTRAST.  05 

the  masks  of  kings  and  captains,  physicians  and  orators, 
philosophers  and  soldiers,  being  in  fact  nothing  of  the 
kind ;  so  in  the  present  life  wealth  and  poverty  are  only 
masks.  As  when  thou  sittest  in  the  theatre  and  beholdest 
one  playing  below,  Avho  sustains  the  part  of  a  king,  thou 
dost  not  count  him  happy,  nor  esteemest  him  a  king,  nor 
desirest  to  be  such  as  he;  but,  knowing  him  to  be  one  of 
the  common  people — a  ropemaker  or  a  blacksmith — thou 
dost  not  esteem  him  happy  for  his  mask  and  his  robe's 
sake,  nor  judgest  of  his  credit  from  them,  but  boldest  him 
cheap  from  the  meanness  of  his  true  condition :  so  here, 
sitting  in  the  world  as  in  a  theatre,  and  beholding  men 
playing  as  on  a  stage,  when  thou  seest  many  rich,  count 
them  not  truly  rich,  but  merely  wearing  the  masks  of  the 
rich.  For  as  he  who  on  the  stage  plays  king  or  captain 
is  often  a  slave,  so  also  that  rich  man  is  in  reality  poorest 
of  all :  for  if  thou  strip  him  of  his  mask,  and  unfold  his 
conscience,  and  scrutinize  his  heart,  thou  wilt  then  find  a 
great  penury  of  virtue.  And  as  in  the  theatre,  when  even- 
ing is  come,  and  the  spectators  are  departed,  and  the 
players  are  gone  forth,  having  laid  aside  their  masks  and 
dresses,  then  they  who  showed  as  kings  and  captains  to 
all,  appear  now  as  they  truly  are ;  so  here,  when  death 
approaches  and  the  audience  is  dismissed,  all,  laying  aside 
the  masks  of  wealth  and  poverty,  depart  from  hence,  and 
being  judged  only  by  their  works,  appear,  some  indeed 
truly  rich  and  some  poor,  some  glorious  and  others  without 
honour."  The  distinctions  of  time,  however  covered,  are 
plainly  masks  ;  they  seem,  rather  than  are ;  were  they  as 
permanent  as  they  are  perishing,  they  would  still  be  masks  ; 
but  they  fade,  the  grass  withereth,  the  flower  fadeth;  "he 
died"  is  part  of  the  biography  of  M-ethuselah. 

After  death  and  burial,  we  read  in  both  cases,  there  was 
a  future  existence.     The  individual  plainly  survives  the 

6* 


66  FORESHADOWS. 

body.  We  leave  behind  us  at  death  that  only  which 
enables  the  soul  to  communicate  with  the  outward  and 
material  world,  having  no  use  for  it  in  that  world  of  spirit 
in  which  we  wait  for  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  All 
that  constitutes  the  man — thinking,  feeling,  knowing — 
lives  for  ever  without  suspension  of  the  continuity  of  its 
conscious  life.  The  outward  tent  is  struck,  but  the  divine 
inhabitant  lives.  The  ceasing  of  the  pulse,  the  standing 
still  of  the  heart,  the  insensibility  of  the  senses,  is  not  the 
destruction  of  the  life,  but  only  of  that  machinery  by  which 
it  acts  and  manifests  itself  to  a  world  of  matter.  The 
musician  endures,  the  harp-strings  only  are  removed.  But 
this  statement,  fact,  or  parable  is  evidence  of  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul. 

In  the  next  place,  this  parable  proves  that  on  each  in- 
dividual, sentence  is  pronounced  at  death.  As  you  close 
the  eye  and  hear  the  last  farewell  sigh,  and  see  the  link 
connecting  some  one  with  time  snapped,  before  the  vital 
warmth  has  gone,  or  the  mourners  go  about  the  streets, 
the  soul  has  heard  its  irreversible  sentence  and  entered 
on  its  everlasting  career.  Fixture,  not  creation  of  state, 
takes  place  at  death ;  "after  death  the  judgment."  There 
are  but  two  currents  upon  earth,  there  are  but  two  paths, 
there  are  but  two  places  after  the  judgment-seat. 

The  parable  clearly  shows  too,  that  at  death,  or  before 
the  resurrection,  there  is  no  suspension  whatever  of  life. 
The  future  is  not  a  long  night  without  a  dream,  till  the 
body  and  the  soul  are  reunited.  There  is  not  only  instant 
retribution,  but  continued  consciousness  :  be  it  bliss  or  be 
it  wo,  we  live.  So  Paul  said,  "I  desire  to  depart  and  be 
with  Christ,  which  is  far  better."  So  it  is  pronounced  in 
the  Apocalypse,  "Blessed  are  the  dead  that  die  in  the 
Lord,  saith  the  Spirit,  from  henceforth,  for  they  rest  from 
their  labours."  The  lost  are  not  annihilated.  •"  Being  in 


A   CONTRAST-  67 

torment,"  is  predicated  of  the  rich  man  after  the  separa- 
tion of  his  soul  from  the  body.  The  words  are  very  strong, 
iv  fiaffdyots,  "under  torture;"  and  he  says  of  himself  after- 
ward, 6duva>fj.ai  ,  "I  am  in  agony."  This  passage 

proves  that  the  lost  immediately  enter  on  their  penal  suf- 
fering, and  are  bitterly  conscious  of  its  reality.  Till  the 
resurrection,  such  suffering,  of  course,  must  be  mental  or 
spiritual,  consisting  of  remorse;  thirst  for  wine,  and  no 
means  to  gratify  it ;  evil  and  sensuous  passions,  and  no 
object  for  their  indulgence ;  ambition,  vain-glory,  and 
other  insatiable  passions,  with  the  corroding  sense  of 
suicide,  and  the  awful  and  deepening  conviction  that  their 
torment  is  without  end,  as  it  must  be  without  mitigation ; 
and  all  aggravated  by  the  consciousness  of  the  enjoyments 
they  despised,  the  means  they  undervalued,  the  hope  they 
cast  away,  the  price  they  criminally  and  recklessly  rejected. 

The  saved,  we  also  gather  from  the  parable,  are  equally 
happy.  On  death  there  is  no  intimation  here  of  any 
purgatorial  state  between  the  soul's  departure  from  the 
body  and  its  entrance  into  the  joys  of  immortality.  Ac- 
cording to  Romanism,  the  greatest  saint  on  earth  enters 
into  burning  flame,  blazing  from  subterranean  fires,  there 
to  be  purged  and  made  fit  for  an  entrance  into  heaven,  as 
if  God's  forgiveness  were  only  partial,  or  as  if  the  flames 
of  purgatory  could  do  what  the  precious  blood  of  Christ 
had  utterly  failed  to  do. 

We  see,  too,  from  this  parable,  that  God  in  this  life 
does  not  always  give  prosperity  to  the  good  and  adversity 
to  the  evil.  There  be  just  men  unto  whom  it  happeneth 
according  to  the  works  of  the  wicked ;  and  there  be 
wicked  to  whom  it  happeneth  according  to  the  works  of 
the  righteous.  Honour  occasionally  encircles  the  brow  of 
mean  men,  wealth  is  sometimes  poured  into  the  lap  of 
criminals.  David  staggered  at  this,  till  he  went  into  the 


68  FORESHADOWS. 

sanctuary  of  God.  There  is  enough  of  providential  dis- 
tinction to  show  that  God  reigns ;  there  is  enough  of  pro- 
vidential confusion  to  lead  us  to  long  for  that  judgment- 
day,  when  God  shall  discriminate.  We  are  taught  to 
regard  wealth,  or  health,  or  dignity,  or  talent,  not  as  an 
expression  of  the  special  favour  of  God,  but  as  the  gift  of 
a  talent  neither  to  be  buried  nor  abused,  but  to  be  conse- 
crated to  his  glory ;  that  they  may  be  sanctified  each  and 
all  to  the  noblest  ends,  and  become  ministers  to  glorious 
purposes.  Wealth  without  grace  is  a  calamity  here,  and 
everlasting  ruin  hereafter.  There  is  a  distinction  and 
separation  between  them  that  serve  God,  and  them  that 
serve  him  not.  The  elements  of  this  are  in  the  parable 
of  the  Sower,  in  that  of  the  Marriage  Feast,  and  that  of 
the  Ten  Virgins,  also  in  the  parable  of  the  Talents,  and 
in  that  of  the  Wheat  and  Tares.  Unmingled  felicity  and 
joy  are  the  inheritance  of  the  people  of  God,  unmingled 
misery  and  wretchedness  and  wo  are  the  portion  of  them 
that  reject  him.  The  present  moment  is  the  seed-time ; 
as  we  sow,  so  shall  we  reap ;  minutes  now  may  be  laden 
with  millennia  of  bliss,  or  of  wo.  Let  not  the  intoxicat- 
ing fumes  of  sense  cloud  the  responsibility  of  the  present, 
or  blind  us  to  the  facts  of  the  future.  There  is  no  escape 
from  immortality,  there  is  offered  to  us  an  escape  from 
misery :  may  we  have  grace  to  seize  it  and  to  live  ac- 
cordingly. 

Whatever  the  nature  of  the  places  of  the  rich  man  and 
Lazarus  here  may  have  been,  in  the  world  to  come  they 
are  represented  the  one  as  far  off  from  the  other.  They 
are  placed  at  the  moral  antipodes.  "  Far  off  from  God," 
is  the  apostolic  description  of  our  state  by  nature.  The 
condition  of  the  lost  is  the  same  in  kind  with  that  of  the 
unconverted  now,  different  only  in  depth,  extent,  and 
degree,  and  with  this  awful  and  inseparable  feature,  that 


A   CONTRAST.  69 

it  never  can  be  altered.  We  may  not  infer  from  the 
parable  that  the  lost  see  the  blessed,  but  we  are  sure  of 
this,  that  the  lost  in  hell  are  aware  of  the  salvation  of  the 
saved.  The  safety  of  those  that  we  knew  in  the  world 
must  aggravate  the  misery  of  the  lost.  If  rays  of  celes- 
tial bliss  ever  reach  the  realms  of  misery,  they  will  only 
serve  to  disclose  in  more  terrible  relief  the  realm  in  which 
sin  has  plunged  its  unhappy  and  despairing  victims. 

The  rich  man  from  the  depths  of  his  burning  wo  ad- 
dresses the  distant  Abraham  as  "father,"  thus  clinging 
in  his  ruin  to  the  fallacy  he  and  the  Jews  leaned  upon  on 
the  earth :  "  We  have  Abraham  to  our  father,  and  we 
shall  never  perish."  He  still  supposed,  "  I  have  Abraham 
to  my  father,  and  therefore  he  will  lift  me  out  of  this 
place ;  he  will  deliver  me  from  this  torment."  He  has 
learned,  however,  by  his  terrible  experience  that  privi- 
leges do  not  commend  us  to  God,  but  only  God  to  us  ;  that 
they  are  not  elements  of  trust,  but  of  responsibility ;  and 
that  the  highest  privileges,  when  abused,  are  always  the 
most  terrible  retributions.  The  very  relationship  he  ex- 
pressed to  Abraham  indicates  the  sin  of  which  he  was 
guilty.  He  had  nothing  of  Abraham's  character,  and 
therefore  he  was  not  owned  by  God.  Lineal  descent  is 
neither  an  atonement  for  the  absence,  nor  an  additional 
lustre  to  the  presence,  of  identity  of  doctrine  and  likeness 
of  moral  character ;  it  aggravates  the  absence  of  it.  A 
believer  can  say,  "  Doubtless  thou  art  our  Father,  though 
Abraham  be  ignorant  of  us,  and  Israel  acknowledge  us 
not."  No  national  -position  will  be  acceptable  to  God  in 
the  absence  of  righteous  character.  Once,  the  rich  man 
hoped  for  eternal  happiness  through  relationship  to  Abra- 
ham ;  now,  he  begs  from  him  a  drop  of  water.  He  does 
not  dare  to  ask  for  release ;  he  seems  to  have  learned  the 
hopelessness  of  that ;  he  was  no  universalist  there.  He 


70  FORESHADOWS. 

asks  not  admittance  into  the  high  and  happy  place  where 
Abraham  was ;  he  saw  and  knew  that  nothing  that  defileth 
can  enter  there.  His  whole  request  was  embodied  in  the 
words,  "Send  Lazarus."  How  fallen  are  the  mighty! 
Once  he  despised  him  as  a  beggar  crawling  to  his  gate  and 
thankful  for  the  crumbs  that  fell  from  his  table ;  he  would 
now  almost  hail  him  as  a  god,  if  he  would  only  lend  to 
him  the  least  ministry  of  mercy  and  of  love.  He  who  was 
once  detested  as  a  troublesome  mendicant,  is  now  courted 
as  a  minister  of  beneficence  and  of  good.  He  asks  a 
drop  of  water  to  cool  his  tongue,  as  if  conscious  that 
his  torment  was  just.  He  asks  its  mitigation,  not  its 
removal.  Intense  mental  agony  produces  the  sensation 
of  intolerable  thirst.  He  who  in  this  life  had  all  the 
wines  of  the  world  on  his  table,  in  that  life  supplicates 
literally  a  drop  of  water.  Lazarus,  once  the  beggar,  is 
now  the  rich  man.  Lazarus  once  saw  the  rich  man  in 
happiness,  the  rich  man  now  sees  Lazarus  in  joy. 

It  needs  no  material  fire  to  render  terrible  the  place  of 
the  lost — Mark  ix.  48,  "  Where  their  worm  dieth  not,  and 
the  fire  is  not  quenched."  The  soul  is  the  seat  of  happiness 
or  of  misery.  Joy  in  the  soul  rendered  the  martyr's  fire 
a  bed  of  roses.  Agony  in  the  soul  reaches  all  the  senses 
of  the  body,  and  makes  every  nerve  and  fibre  to  tingle 
with  intolerable  pain.  This  petition  of  the  rich  man  is 
the  only  indication  in  the  word  of  God  of  what  is  defined 
in  the  Church  of  Rome  as  the  invocation  of  saints ;  and 
surely  it  is  the  least  possible  encouragement  to  the  prac- 
tice. In  this  respect  the  lost  rich  man  was  very  much  a 
Roman  Catholic.  In  life  his  whole  trust  was  in  his  lineal 
succession  or  descent  from  Abraham,  while  he  neither 
walked  like  Abraham  before  God,  nor  trusted  in  him  for 
righteousness,  nor  rejoiced  to  see  Christ's  day.  In  the 
realms  of  the  lost  he  prays  not  to  the  God  of  Abraham, 


A   CONTRAST.  71 

but  to  Abraham,  and  finds  as  the  result,  what  aggravates  his 
wo,  neither  disposition  nor  ability  in  Abraham  to  help  him. 
Abraham  replies  in  kindly  and  in  friendly  terms  ;  he  recog- 
nises the  fact  of  the  lineal  relationship,  and  gives  him  all 
the  credit  for  it ;  but  this  only  increases  his  misery,  that  he 
was  a  son  by  blood,  but  an  alien  and  stranger  in  character. 
"  Remember,"  says  Abraham.  This  one  word  is  a  vivid 
symbol  of  the  rich  man's  misery.  Memory  is  the  faculty 
that  will  survive  all.  To  remember  the  great  truths  of 
Christianity  is  now  the  greatest  bliss :  to  remember  them 
hereafter,  like  fixed  stars,  cold  and  distant,  must  be  the 
greatest  misery.  His  first  recollection  is  the  good  things 
he  received  in  this  life, — splendour  of  equipage,  fine 
linen,  and  jovial  fare.  To  earn  and  enjoy  these  he  sacri- 
ficed his  soul ;  he  sold  his  birthright ;  he  despised  the 
claims  of  the  needy,  the  widow,  and  the  orphan  ;  and  now 
he  feels  in  all  its  force  what  he  once  despised  as  the 
aphorism  of  enthusiastic  pharisaism,  or  absolute  fanati- 
cism :  "  What  shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  gain  the  whole 
world  and  lose  his  own  soul?"  Let  not  any  substantial 
grandeur  conceal  our  interest  in  the  safety  of  the  precious 
soul.  The  body  exists  for  the  soul,  not  the  soul  for  the 
body.  The  body  is  but  the  temple,  and  all  its  senses  are 
but  ministering  Levites.  Let  us  live  to  be  holy  and  to  be 
happy,  for  these  are  some  of  the  main  ends  and  objects  of 
the  existence  of  man.  The  rich  sufferer  remembered  all 
in  that  place  of  agony ;  he  remembered  that  he  not  only 
sacrificed  his  soul  in  order  to  accumulate,  but  never  dis- 
tributed to  others,  who  needed  what  he  had  accumulated. 
What  a  terrible  retrospect  was  here  !  Thousands  spent 
on  himself,  and  nothing  on  humanity,  on  good.  The  ter- 
rible sting  of  the  worm  that  died  not  was — "I  squandered 
in  folly  or  in  dissipation  what  might  have  raised  churches, 
transmitted  the  glorious  gospel  to  distant  lands,  saved 


72  FORESHADOWS. 

souls,  and  made  men  happy."  We  have  tried  in  this 
world  many  enjoyments.  Some  of  you  whom  I  now 
address  have  run  the  round  of  them.  You  have  kept  a 
carriage,  you  have  lived  sumptuously,  you  have  dwelt  in 
magnificent  houses,  you  wear  rich  apparel,  you  have 
splendid  furniture.  I  do  not  say  these  things  are  sinful : 
but  I  entreat  you  to  add  one  rich  luxury  to  all ;  crown 
them  all,  and  deepen  the  enjoyment  of  all ;  send  out  mis- 
sionaries and  Bibles,  to  those  that  need  to  be  enlightened 
in  the  things  that  belong  to  their  eternal  peace.  To  be 
struck  from  the  place  of  eminence  and  power  and  splen- 
dour, and  placed  in  a  deep,  dark  dungeon,  with  no  light 
but  what  is  reflected  from  the  leaves  of  memory,  must  in 
such  a  case  be  a  terrible  punishment ;  yet  this  is  nothing 
to  the  recollections  and  the  retrospects  of  the  lost.  Their 
pleasures  were  sweet  in  their  enjoyment,  but  they  left 
stings  behind  that  eternity  will  not  extract ;  the  special 
sins  of  time  will  for  ever  flash  before  the  eyes  of  the  lost. 
He  remembered,  too,  at  the  bidding  of  Abraham,  all 
his  sins.  The  mists  were  swept  away  from  his  eyes,  the 
apologies  were  all  dismissed  from  conscience,  and  ten 
thousand  sins  unexpectedly  glared  in  on  his  agonized  spi- 
rit, each  coming  within  the  horizon,  and  bringing  with  it 
a  train  of  misery,  and  bitterness,  and  wo.  He  had  sown 
to  the  flesh — he  now  reaped  its  corruption.  Memory,  like 
a  whispering  gallery,  returned  the  deeds  of  a  lifetime  in 
crashes  of  insufferable  thunder  ;  each  sin  reproduced  itself, 
and  each  black  deed  cast  its  cold  and  horrible  shadow  on 
the  spirit  of  him  who  had  committed  it.  Lost  opportuni- 
ties were  not  the  least  bitter  recollections  of  the  lost  rich 
man.  What  a  fearful  arithmetic  was  his  !  ever  counting 
Sabbaths  that  are  lost,  and  lost  for  ever,  offers  of  mercy 
rejected,  overtures  of  love  repudiated,  sermons  heard  and 
despised,  or  caricatured,  or  explained  away,  impulses  to 


A   CONTRAST.  73 

repentance  crushed,  purposes  nipped  in  the  bud,  excuses 
that  answered  only  for  the  nonce,  presumptions  and  apolo- 
gies ever  ready  now  seen  through.  Let  memory  alone 
survive,  and  it  will  strike  ten  thousand  scorpion  stings  into 
the  soul  of  the  lost;  it  will  be  the  sleepless  fiend  gathering 
scorching  torments  from  the  past,  while  imagination  only 
lives  to  gather  the  fires  of  terrible  retributions  from  the 
future. 

"There  is  a  great  gulf  fixed  between  us,"  was  the  awful 
and  withering  reply.  No  wings  can  fly  across  it,  no  foot 
can  wade  it,  no  mercy  will  ever  span  it,  no  Saviour  is  pro- 
mised to  bridge  it.  This  great  gulf  is  fixed :  it  is  not  a 
temporary  accident,  but  an  eternal  fact  fixed  in  the  purpose, 
fixed  by  the  power  of  God ;  "so  that  they  that  would  pass 
from  hence  cannot."  This  looks  as  if  in  the  bosom  of  the 
saved  in  glory  there  were  feelings  of  pity  for  the  lost,  and 
anxiety  to  deliver  them.  Will  relatives  in  glory  miss  rela- 
tives they  loved  on  earth,  and  not  desire  to  receive  them  ? 
I  cannot  answer.  Silence,  where  God  is  silent,  is  our 
duty.  "Neither  they  pass  to  us."  The  gulf  that  sepa- 
rates the  saved  from  the  lost  is  unalterable  :  both  live  for 
ever,  and  for  ever  separate.  The  sentence  of  the  judg- 
ment day  is  inexhaustible  for  ever :  the  difference  between 
the  experience  of  the  saved  and  lost  is  lasting  as  the  throne 
of  Deity ;  life  is  eternal,  and  death  is  eternal.  No  ele- 
ment of  evil,  or  of  temptation,  or  of  sorrow,  shall  ever 
enter  the  celestial  abodes ;  no  adverse  power  shall  ever 
reach  the  realms  of  the  happy.  They  shall  discover  new 
reasons  every  hour  for  adoring  the  Lamb,  and  new  oppor- 
tunities for  doing  so.  If  true  now,  it  is  still  more  so  then : 
"I  give  unto  them  eternal  life,  and  none  shall  pluck  them 
out  of  my  hand."  Nothing  shall  separate  them  from  the 
love  of  God.  Take  from  the  bliss  of  heaven  its  eternity, 
and  a  shadow  would  be  cast  over  it  all.  It  is  equally  true, 

II.  SEE.  7  • 


71  FORESHADOWS. 

that  the  lost  in  hell  are  excluded  for  ever ;  shame  and 
everlasting  contempt  are  their  inheritance  ;  "  they  shall  be 
punished  with  everlasting  destruction  from  the  presence 
of  God,"  is  their  sentence :  the  bottomless  pit  in  which 
they  are  ever  sinking,  and  yet  never  touching  the  bottom, 
is  their  terrible  progression.  Annihilation  it  cannot  be, 
for  it  is  weeping ;  nor  will  there  be  any  change  of  place, 
for  there  is  no  place  to  go  to.  Were  they  delivered  from 
their  place  of  torment,  they  could  not  live  in  heaven ;  for 
the  company  of  the  holy  would  be  torment  to  them,  and 
their  presence  would  alter  the  whole  representation  of  the 
blessed :  they  are  unfit  for  heaven,  for  they  are  not  holy ; 
they  have  gone  to  that  place  for  which  they  fitted  them- 
selves, and  for  which  they  are  only  fit.  It  may  be  said 
that  their  long  sufferings  will  change  their  nature,  but  is 
there  any  intimation  in  the  Bible  that  the  sufferings  of  the 
lost  are  either  purifying,  sanctifying,  or  saving  ?  Does 
not  every  declaration  show  that  they  are  penal  ?  Does 
punishment  ever  lead  its  victim  to  love  the  punisher?  does 
it  not  exasperate  ?  If  torture  could  have  saved  the  souls 
of  sinners,  Christ  would  have  never  died.  If  a  temporary 
suffering  could  have  redeemed  mankind,  an  infinite  atone- 
ment would  not  have  been  made.  But  all  Scripture  shows 
us  that  salvation  is  only  in  and  by  Christ,  and  that  out  of 
Christ  here  or  hereafter  there  is  no  salvation.  Is  there 
any  intimation  that  Christ  will  be  offered  to  the  lost,  that 
there  will  be  a  Calvary  there,  that  there  will  be  a  Pente- 
cost in  hell  ?  Is  not  the  very  reason  of  their  ruin  their 
rejection  of  Christ  ?  and  is  not  the  result  of  that  rejection 
that  there  is  no  more  any  sacrifice  for  sin  ?  If  the  lost 
are  to  be  saved,  "now"  is  not  the  only  accepted  time, 
"to-day"  is  not  the  only  day  of  salvation;  the  procrasti- 
nation of  Felix  was  not  a  delusion,  the  almost  Christianity 
of  Agrippa  was  not  utter  ruin ;  there  will  be  in  hell  a  more 


t 

A   CONTRAST.  75 

attractive  cross,  a  more  willing  Saviour,  a  more  glorious 
gospel,  a  brighter  apocalypse  of  it.  But  where  is  this 
taught  ?  By  whom  is  it  taught  ?  Not  in  the  Bible.  It  is 
answered,  however,  that  "  everlasting"  is  used  in  a  modi- 
fied sense  and  to  express  limited  duration.  We  read  of 
"the  everlasting  hills;"  the  land  of  Canaan  is  given  to 
Abraham  "  an  everlasting  possession  ;"  at  the  end  of  seven 
years  a  slave  became  "a  slave  for  ever."  But  in  all  these 
cases  there  is  no  possibility  of  mistake,  for  the  disproof 
of  eternity  is  always  at  hand  in  the  same  book ;  the  earth 
will  be  dissolved ;  Canaan  was  taken  away ;  the  slave 
dies.  In  every  case  in  which  the  word  "eternal"  is  ap- 
plied in  the  Bible  to  any  thing  that  is  temporary,  we  have 
only  to  read  or  to  analyze,  and  we  have  the  proof  that  it 
is  used  in  a  limited  sense,  just  as  it  is  applied  to  the  earth 
in  a  limited  sense.  But,  to  show  the  folly  of  any  such 
reasoning  as  that  we  object  to,  the  earth  is  called  eternal, 
which  means  that  it  will  not  last ;  therefore,  when  God  is 
called  eternal,  we  must  understand  that  he  will  not  live 
forever.  But  the  word  "eternal"  is  applied  to  things 
beyond,  below,  or  above  the  world  in  a  totally  different 
way.  "The  everlasting  God,"  "eternal  redemption," 
"  everlasting  happiness,"  this  is  the  origin  of  the  word  and 
its  strict  import :  whereas,  the  other  uses  of  the  word  are 
its  figurative  applications.  In  each  of  the  limited  senses  in 
which  the  word  "everlasting"  is  used,  it  implies,  as  long 
as  the  subject  lasts  of  which  it  is  predicated ;  and  so,  when 
it  is  applied  to  the  torment  of  the  lost,  it  is  so  long  as  the  . 
souls  last  that  are  the  objects  and  the  subjects  of  it.  If 
there  be  no  eternity  of  penalty  in  the  Scriptures,  it  cannot 
be  shown  that  there  is  any  prospect  of  an  eternity  of  joy; 
for  the  very  language  that  is  used  of  the  one  is  constantly 
applied  to  the  other.  But  the  very  nature  of  the  character 
of  the  lost  implies  its  cumulative  character,  and  therefore 


76  FORESHADOWS. 

the  eternity  of  their  sufferings.  They  ever  sin,  and  must 
ever  suffer ;  /or  in  such  a  case,  severed  from  the  Saviour, 
beyond  the  reach  and  appliances  of  the  gospel,  sin  is  a 
ceaseless  evil,  never  working  out  its  own  cure,  and  always 
working  out  its  own  punishment.  It  is  said  of  the  betrayer 
of  our  Lord,  "  It  had  been  good  for  Judas  if  he  had  never 
been  born."  If  Judas  were  to  suffer  a  million  years,  yet, 
if  there  be  an  eternity  of  happiness  at  the  end  of  this  mil- 
lion years,  it  could  not  be  said,  "It  had  been  good  for  him 
that  he  never  had  been  born."  Eternity,  in  truth,  is  the 
most  rapturous  element  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  saved :  it 
is  the  most  terrible  portion  of  the  miseries  of  the  lost. 

Every  man  I  now  address  has  for  his  final  state  heaven 
or  hell.  This  is  not  a  fancy  or  a  conjecture ;  every  soul 
is  rushing  every  day  to  the  one  or  the  other.  We  may 
not  think  so,  we  may  not  feel  so,  yet  our  disbelief  of  it 
does  not  prove  its  untruth.  What  a  guiding  light  should 
this  solemn  fact  throw  upon  all  our  ways !  Is  our  way 
parallel  with  the  way  that  leads  to  heaven  ?  Is  this  step 
we  are  now  taking  in  the  direction  of  glory  ?  If  men  felt 
thus,  they  would  quarrel  less,  and  live  and  learn  more. 
Every  man  may  know  much  more  of  his  future  state  now 
than  he  is  disposed  to  admit.  Few  perish  without  strong 
and  deepening  convictions  that  such  is  their  course.  It 
was  not  the  wealth  of  the  rich  man  that  ruined  him,  but 
the  rejection  of  the  Saviour ;  it  was  not  the  poverty  of 
Lazarus  that  saved  him,  but  his  friendship  with  God.  Are 
we  on  the  Lord's  side  ?  Are  we  the  friends  of  God  ?  Can 
we  say,  "  Thou  knowest  all  things ;  thou  knowest  that  I 
love  thee  ?"  What  responsibilities  are  crowding  into  hours ! 
what  weighty  elements  are  involved  in  existence  !  "  Now" 
carries  in  its  bosom  "then;"  the  future  life  is  the  flower 
and  the  fruitage  of  the  present.  May  we  have  grace  to  see 
and  feel  that  it  is  so  ! 


77 


LECTURE  V. 

THE    RETRIBUTION. 

Then  he  said,  I  pray  theo  therefore,  father,  that  thou  wouldest  send  him  to  my 
father's  house :  for  I  have  five  brethren  ;  that  he  may  testify  unto  them,  lest 
they  also  come  into  this  place  of  torment.  Abraham  saith  unto  him,  They 
have  Moses  and  the  prophets ;  let  them  hear  them.  And  ho  said,  Nay, 
father  Abraham  :  but  if  one  went  unto  them  from  the  dead,  they  will  repent. 
And  he  said  unto  him,  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither  will 
they  be  persuaded,  though  one  rose  from  the  dead. — LUKE  xvi.  27-31. 

I  HAVE  said  in  my  former  lecture,  that  whether  this  is 
to  be  taken  as  a  literal  fact,  or  to  be  viewed,  as  we  are 
disposed  to  view  it,  rather  as  a  parable,  it  equally  teaches 
the  same  great  instructive  and  solemn  truths.  I  showed, 
first  of  all,  the  character  of  the  rich  man.  His  sin  lay 
not  in  his  wealth  ;  there  is  no  more  sin  in  being  rich,  than 
there  is  in  being  poor ;  there  is  no  more  sin  in  the  robe 
that  the  queen  wears,  than  there  is  merit  in  the  rags  that 
cover  a  beggar.  These  are  not  the  elements  of  sin ;  they 
are  adventitious,  circumstantial  things,  which  may  have  re- 
sponsibility from  the  use  or  abuse  of  them,  but  have  in 
themselves  no  inherent  merit  or  sin  in  the  sight  of  God. 
I  showed,  next,  wherein  the  sin  lay — namely,  in  this,  that 
he  suffered  Lazarus  to  lie  at  his  porch  without  relieving 
him ;  that  he  had  the  means  of  aid,  and  would  not  bestow 
them ;  that  he  heard  his  cry  of  want,  and  would  not  feed 
him ;  that  he  was  so  wrapped  up  in  his  own  selfish  enjoy- 
ments, that  he  had  nothing  to  spare  for  the  wants  or  ne- 
cessities of  the  poor,  however  clamorous  or  pressing  these 


78  FORESHADOWS. 

might  be.  We  next  read  of  their  death.  The  tables  are 
turned :  Lazarus  is  borne  on  angel's  pinions  into  happiness, 
and  is  comforted.  The  rich  man  dies,  is  splendidly  bu- 
ried, and  lifts  up  his  eyes  in  hell,  being  in  torment.  I 
showed,  next,  that  there  may  be  a  vision,  that  there  is  here 
represented  a  vision,  of  the  happy  on  the  part  of  the 
wretched.  There  may  not  be  a  vision  in  reality  in  the 
world  to  come,  but  there  will  be  a  knowledge  that  some 
who  enjoyed  less  opportunities  than  we,  are  happy ;  and 
that  we,  who  had  better  opportunities,  perish  for  ever.  I 
endeavoured  to  show  what,  is  implied  in  the  petition  to 
Abraham.  It  is  the  only  instance  in  Scripture  appearing 
to  favour  the  doctrine  of  the  invocation  of  saints,  the  great 
doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome — of  a  sinner  in  misery 
praying  to  a  saint  in  glory  to  deliver  him.  This  is  the 
most  unhappy  instance  they  could  quote,  for  the  rich  man 
here  asks  in  vain.  I  endeavoured  to  show  what  may  be 
implied  in  the  expression,  "cool  my  tongue."  I  do  not 
believe  it  was  a  material  torment,  for  the  resurrection  was 
not  yet  come.  The  parable  contemplates  that  state  of 
happiness  into  which  the  souls  of  the  righteous  go,  and 
that  state  of  misery  into  which  the  souls  of  the  wicked  go, 
previous  to  the  resurrection.  Material  fire  could  not  be 
here,  because  there  was  no  material  subject  for  it.  Nor  may 
there  ever  be  material  fire.  It  is  probable  that  the  language 
is  figurative ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  it  is  certain  that  the 
torture  and  the  agony  of  a  conscience  writhing  with  re- 
morse and  recollections,  aggravated  by  all  the  scenes  and 
circumstances  from  which  they  rush,  will  constitute  a  fever 
so  terrible,  a  torment  so  insufferable,  that  the  language 
which  is  here  used  does  not  over-express  it.  I  showed  from 
this  passage,  too,  this  very  important  inference  :  that  we 
have  here  direct  evidence  that  the  soul  is  immortal ;  that 
when  the  body  dies,  the  soul  does  not  die  with  it ;  that  the 


THE   RETRIBUTION.  79 

moment  the  one  is  laid  in  the  tomb,  that  moment  the  other 
is  at  the  judgment-seat  of  Christ.  The  soul  is  no  sooner 
separated  from  the  body,  than  it  is  judged  ;  and  enters, 
the  one  into  its  doom  of  wo,  the  other  into  its  destiny  of 
felicity  and  joy.  It  is  said  by  some,  that  the  wicked  are 
annihilated,  that  the  soul  at  death  ceases  to  be,  which  is 
as  absurd  to  the  philosopher  as  it  is  unscriptural  to  the 
mind  of  the  Christian.  It  is  equally  untrue,  that  there  is 
no  future  torment,  that  it  is  all  a  dream  and  a  make-believe. 
If  it  were  so,  our  Lord  must  have  taught  what  is  false. 
Here,  and  in  many  other  places,  it  is  reiterated,  "These 
shall  go  away  into  everlasting  torment."  Then  it  is  also 
stated,  that  whatever  be  the  nature  of  this  torment,  or  of 
that  happiness,  there  is  no  change,  there  is  a  great  gulf 
fixed,  so  that  the  lost  in  hell,  says  Abraham,  can  never  go 
to  the  company  of  the  saved  in  heaven.  If  they  cannot 
go  to  heaven,  where  can  they  go  ?  There  is  no  purgatory 
in  the  Bible ;  there  are  but  two  places ;  heaven  and  hell. 
If  unfit  for  the  one,  and  exiles  from  it,  they  must  be 
doomed  to  the  other,  and  be  inhabitants  of  it  for  ever  and 
ever.  There  is  a  great  gulf  fixed ;  there  is  no  transition ; 
there  can  be  no  interchange.  The  separation  is  a  gulf  so 
wide,  that  no  wings  can  fly  over  it ;  so  deep,  so  replete  with 
misery,  that  no  feet  can  wade  it ;  and  that  gulf  is  not  one 
that  is  filled  up  by  the  lapse  of  years,  or  that  is  gradually 
dissolving  by  wind  and  weather,  and  wear  and  tear ;  it  is 
fixed  there  for  ever,  by  the  fiat  of  Him  who  made  the 
universe. 

We  now  come  to  the  rich  man's  last  petition.  He  said, 
"I  pray  thee,  therefore,  father,  that  thou  wouldest  send 
him  to  my  father's  house."  Repulsed  himself,  and  perish- 
ing, with  no  hope  of  restoration,  he  asks  only  for  others. 
I  can  conceive  nothing  calculated  to  give  a  more  complete 
idea  of  the  hopelessness  of  the  rich  man  in  hell,  than  his 


80  FORESHADOWS. 

ceasing  to  ask  for  mercy.  To  the  very  last  breath,  the 
criminal  will  ask  for  pardon,  and  when  he  ceases  to  ask,  it 
is  an  evidence  that  he  has  ceased  to  hope ;  and  the  very 
fact,  therefore,  that  the  rich  man  in  the  realms  of  the  lost 
ceased  to  ask  for  himself,  is  irresistible  evidence  that  he 
had  ceased  to  hope  for  deliverance,  because  of  that  great 
gulf  fixed  between  heaven  and  hell.  It  appears,  however, 
that  he  had  memory.  I  showed  in  my  last  lecture  that 
memory  would  be  one  of  the  great  storehouses  of  torment 
to  the  lost.  This  rich  man  not  only  recollected  what  he 
was,  but,  according  to  this  passage,  he  recollected  that  he 
had  five  brethren.  He  remembered  the  merry  days  he  had 
spent  with  them;  the  bright  scenes  they  had  witnessed, 
how  those  of  them  who  were  Sadducees  laughed  at  the 
idea  of  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  or  the  happiness  and 
the  suffering  of  the  life  to  come,  and  how  those  of  them 
who  were  Pharisees  were  too  busy  gathering  credit  for  their 
names,  and  phylacteries  for  their  robes,  and  cash  for  their 
treasuries,  to  care  much  whether  there  was  a  heaven  or  a 
hell  before  them.  He  recollected  all  this,  and  prayed, 
therefore,  that  Abraham  would  send  Lazarus  to  his  father's 
house.  Are  there  no  Sadducees  now  ?  Are  there  not  men 
who  deny  the  resurrection  of  the  dead?  who  doubt  the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul  ?  who  can  soberly  and  coldly  sit  down, 
and  look  forward  to  the  grave,  and  feel  that  it  would  be  to 
them  what  the  way-side  is  to  the  dead  brute  that  falls  in 
the  midst  of  his  toils,  and  perishes  for  ever?  What  a 
wretched  prospect !  If  they  be  right,  if  my  soul  is  not  to 
unfold  its  wing,  and  rise  to  realms  of  beauty,  and  of  im- 
mortality beyond  the  grave,  I  must  come  to  the  conclusion, 
that  the  God  that  gave  me  these  instincts,  these  yearnings, 
these  longings,  this  thirst  after  immortality,  is  a  cruel  and 
relentless  tyrant;  not  the  Father  of  beneficence,  and  the 
fountain  of  mercy,  that  I  have  regarded  him.  Every  other 


THE   RETRIBUTION.  81 

creature  conies  to  its  perfection,  and  falls  and  dies.  With 
man  it  is  quite  different.  Who  does  not  feel,  if  he  is  a 
student,  or  a  thinker,  or  a  reasoner,  or  a  reflector  at  all, 
that  he  is  ripening  every  year  ?  Who  does  not  perceive 
that  he  is  storing  up  facts  that  he  did  not  know  before ; 
that  he  is  acquiring  experience  which  he  had  not,  in  other 
words,  progressing,  not  receding ;  and  that  if  he  had  the 
same  years  to  live  over  again,  he  would  live  over  them  with 
greater  consistency,  profit,  and  peace.  Is  it  not  hard  that, 
when  this  man  has  just  attained  his  culminating  glory,  he 
should  be  instantly  cut  down  and  annihilated  for  ever  ?  As 
soon  as  he  is  fit  to  live,  he  ceases  to  live ;  just  when  he  has 
all  the  apparatus  in  him  of  a  beauteous  life,  it  seems  hard 
that  his  hope  should  be  balked,  life  should  cease,  and  he 
should  die  like  a  brute  of  the  earth.  I  will  not  believe  it. 
If  I  had  no  Bible,  I  would  not  believe  it.  It  is  absurd ;  it 
is  worse  than  absurd !  It  is  cruel  to  man ;  it  is  dishonour- 
ing to  God! 

But  there  are  not  perhaps  many  who  come  to  this  de- 
liberate conviction.  I  doubt  if  what  is  called  "speculative 
atheism"  is  a  very  common  thing.  I  do  not  believe  there 
can  be  atheism,  truly  so  called,  in  the  moral  world,  any 
more  than  there  can  be  a  vacuum  in  the  natural  world. 
We  cannot  make  a  vacuum  in  the  air.  The  moment  we  do 
so,  the  least  chink  or  cranny  will  let  the  pressing  ocean  of 
air  outside  rush  in,  and  fill  it  up.  Thus  the  old  schoolmen 
used  to  say,  "Nature  abhors  a  vacuum."  So  I  believe,  if 
we  try  to  form  that  exhausted  receiver,  called  an  atheist, 
we  shall  not  keep  him  so  for  five  or  twenty  minutes,  or 
twenty  hours,  together ;  there  will  rush  into  him  a  thousand 
idols,  or  phantoms,  or  facts,  that  will  make  him  feel  there 
is  a  God,  and  while  he  feels  it,  tremble. 

Speculative  atheism,  therefore,  is  not  the  peril  of  the 
age ;  but  Pharisaic  atheism  is.  We  have  many  a  man  who 


82  FORESHADOWS. 

is  too  busy  in  making  a  fortune,  who  is  too  much  absorbed 
with  his  business,  who  is  anxious  to  get  a  name,  who  has 
no  time  to  spare  from  the  counting-house  for  the  sanctuary, 
who  cannot  lift  his  eyes  from  his  ledger  to  fasten  it  on  the 
Bible ;  who  does  not  like  to  think  about  God,  lest  it  disquiet 
him,  or  about  eternity,  lest  it  interfere  with  his  profits,  or 
feel  this  truth  in  his  counting-house,  which  he  can  stand 
out  and  brave  in  the  sanctuary,  "Thou  God  seest  me." 

Many  men  can  bear  to  have  inscribed  on  the  house  of 
God,  "Thou  God  seest  me,"  who  cannot  stand  it  in  the 
counting-house.  It  would  disturb  them ;  it  would  be  out 
of  place ;  bad  taste,  not  good  architecture,  not  in  keeping 
with  the  scene.  And  why?  Because  men  put  on  religion 
like  a  dress.  They  will  endure  prayer  and  praise,  the 
Bible  and  truth,  God  and  eternity,  within  "the  four  con- 
secrated walls,"  as  they  call  them;  but  the  same  great 
truths  which  they  think  most  beautiful  in  the  house  of  God, 
are  to  them  altogether  discordant  in  the  counting-house  or 
the  Exchange. 

The  gospel  was  meant  less  for  the  sanctuary,  more  for 
the  shop:  the  Bible  was  Written  less  for  the  Sunday,  more 
for  the  Monday.  And  what  you  should  do  upon  a  Sunday 
is  to  come  and  hear  the  truths;  what  you  are  called  upon 
to  do  on  Monday  is  to  go  and  exhibit  their  power,  their 
beauty,  their  influence  in  all  you  do  or  say. 

But  the  first  question  occurs,  what  can  have  been  the 
reason  that  this  rich  man  seems  to  express  such  compassion 
for  those  who  were  left  behind  ?  Was  it  really  that  he  felt 
for  the  ruin  they  were  ripening  for  themselves  ?  Is  it  that 
there  was  in  that  heart,  in  the  midst  of  the  agonies  of  the 
lost,  some  compassion  that  made  him  deprecate  the  intro- 
duction of  others  into  the  same  horrible  abode  of  torment  ? 
If  this  was  the  case,  it  would  favour,  though  it  would  not 
prove,  the  notions  of  those  who  think  the  punishment  of 


THE   RETRIBUTION.  83 

hell  is  not  punitive  but  purifying,  and  that  this  rich  man 
became  better  as  ages  rolled  over  him,  laden  with  suffering; 
and  that  he  exhibits  here  a  missionary  sympathy  with  the 
perishing,  which  he  had  never  entertained  or  exhibited  upon 
earth.  But  if  this  was  the  feeling,  I  ask  where  is  the  evi- 
dence that  it  was  so  ?  Recollect  we  have  simply  the  fact 
stated  here,  that  he  deprecated  the  introduction  of  his 
friends  into  the  torment  that  he  endured :  it  is  not  said 
that  he  sympathized  with  their  condition,  that  he  pitied 
their  misery,  or  that  he  wished  either  to  give  glory  to  God, 
or  to  spread  holiness  upon  earth.  May  there  not  have  been 
other  motives?  May  he  not  have  deprecated  the  introduc- 
tion of  his  brethren  to  his  presence,  because  they  would 
remind  him  more  vividly  than  ever  of  the  sins  they  had 
perpetrated  together  ?  May  it  not  be  that  he  dreaded  their 
introduction  into  his  presence,  lest  he  should  hear  the  ter- 
rible maledictions,  and  listen  to  the  curses  of  his  boon  com- 
panions while  they  execrated  his  name,  and  deplored  the 
day  when  the  splendours  of  a  rich  man's  table  made  them 
his  guests,  and  the  standing  of  a  great  man  made  them  his 
flatterers  ?  If  so,  what  an  awful  picture  is  this,  that  all  the 
imagery  of  home,  all  the  associations  of  the  past,  shall 
rush  into  the  vision  of  the  rich  and  the  lost  in  ruin,  and 
be  the  burning  of  that  fire  that  is  never  quenched,  and  the 
scorpion  stings  of  that  worm  which  shall  never  die.  If  this 
be  true,  it  is  surely  no  ordinary  torment  that  made  the  rich 
man  deprecate  the  presence  of  his  friends.  What  is  the 
law  of  sympathy  in  this  world  ?  Let  a  man  suffer,  and  his 
friends  go  and  sympathize  with  him.  Human  nature  in 
this  world  courts  the  presence  of  others,  looks  for  their 
sympathy;  and  he  who  can  pour  his  wrongs  into  another's 
bosom,  feels  that  the  stings  of  those  wrongs  are  to  a  great 
degree  extracted.  Here,  in  hell,  human  nature  dreads  and 
deprecates  sympathy ;  would  rather  suffer  alone — as  if  to 


84  FORESHADOWS. 

give  a  picture,  full,  and  dark,  and  vivid,  of  the  sufferings 
of  the  lost.  Company  which  lightens  suffering  here,  and 
sympathy  which  hlunts  its  sting,  are  deprecated  there,  as 
aggravations  of  its  woe  and  misery  for  ever.  It  is  as  if, 
addressing  Abraham,  he  had  said,  "  Save  me  from  the  pre- 
sence of  those  I  misled.  Oh!  let  not  their  faces  come 
before  me  in  the  abodes  of  the  lost.  There  the  victim  will 
curse  me  as  the  destroyer.  There  the  misled  will  heap 
execrations  upon  me  as  the  misleader.  Spare  me  this  ad- 
ditional flame,  this  new  and  yet  more  terrible  torment. 
Let  me  suffer,  if  it  be  possible,  alone."  What  if  those  ter- 
rible spirits  who  sprang  up  from  the  chaos  of  1792  (though 
it  is  of  no  use  to  judge  them,  little  as  we  can  hope  about 
them)  are  now  in  the  regions  of  the  lost !  What  a  terrible 
thought  to  one,  to  know  that  his  infidel  Dictionary  is  poi- 
soning the  minds  of  the  young  men  in  London  !  to  another, 
that  his  infidel  essays  are  supplying  reasons  for  extinguish- 
ing truth,  and  opiates  for  deadening  conscience !  What  a 
terrible  and  agonizing  recollection  will  crowd  around,  if 
not  Paine,  some  one  in  his  circumstances ;  if  not  Voltaire, 
some  one  in  his  guilt — when  thousands  and  thousands  con- 
centrate, from  the  whole  circumference  of  hell,  their  curses 
and  maledictions  upon  those  that  misled  them ! 

If  a  man  should  take  care  what  he  says,  let  him  take 
care  what  he  writes.  If  we  cannot  say,  upon  our  death- 
beds, that  we  have  not  spoken  a  word  which  we  should 
wish  to  be  hushed,  let  us  at  least  be  able  to  say  that  we 
have  not  written  a  line  which  we  should  wish  to  be  ex- 
tinguished. The  "litera  scripta  manet" — the  written 
letter  lasts.  It  is  the  press  that  makes  a  man  have  power 
after  he  is  dead,  and  do  damage  to  souls  when  he  is  drawn 
from  the  scenes  and  circumstances  in  which  he  lived. 

I  pass,  however,  to  notice  another  circumstance.  We  see 
in  this  parable  evidence  that  in  the  future  state  there  is 


THE   RETRIBUTION.  85 

mutual  recognition.  The  rich  man  in  misery  recognised 
Lazarus  in  happiness ;  and  there  is  here  evidence  by  im- 
plication that  the  lost  will  recognise  each  other.  Why 
should  the  five  brethren,  coming  into  hell,  be  a  torment 
to  the  rich  man,  if  he  were  not  perfectly  persuaded  that 
he  would  recognise  them  there ;  if  there  were  no  recogni- 
tion in  the  realms  of  the  lost,  he  would  not  have  depre- 
cated their  presence;  the  fact  that  he  did  so  deprecate 
their  presence,  implies  that  he  felt  he  should  know  them 
when  they  came  there.  May  I  not  then  argue,  from  the 
lesser  to  the  greater,  that  if  there  be  recognition  in  the 
realms  of  the  lost,  there  shall  be  recognition  in  the  realms 
of  the  saved  ?  If  the  wicked  meeting  the  wicked  shall  to- 
gether add  to  their  common  agony,  may  we  not  presume 
that  the  blessed  meeting  with  the  blessed  shall,  together, 
add  to  their  common  joy ;  that  instead,  therefore,  of  sitting 
upon  deserted  thrones,  or  living  in  heaven  in  solitary 
chambers,  unconscious  who  are  around  them,  there  is  not 
a  friend  who  shall  not  meet  friend,  nor  a  relative  who  shall 
not  meet  relative;  and  that  if  memory  survives  in  the 
realms  of  the  lost,  and  can  go  and  take  a  retrospect  of 
scenes  that  have  passed  away  for  ever,  memory  will  sur- 
vive in  the  realms  of  the  blessed,  and  our  retrospect  of 
the  toils  we  endured,  of  the  pilgrimages  we  finished,  of  the 
sermons  AVC  heard,  of  the  prayers  we  oifered  up,  of  all  the 
way  that  the  Lord  has  led  us,  will  be  no  light  portion  of 
that  joy  which  no  longer  enters  into  us,  but  into  which,  as 
into  an  ocean,  we  enter  ourselves. 

Let  me  suggest  the  possibility  of  another  motive  beyond 
all  this,  for  the  rich  man's  desire  to  send  some  one  to  warn 
his  brethren,  and  I  suspect  it  is  the  real  secret  of  his  pro- 
posal. Just  as  Adam  blamed  God  for  giving  him  the 
Avoman,  and  as  the  woman  laid  the  blame  on  Adam  for 
putting  her  in  the  way  of  the  serpent,  so  the  rich  man  here 


86  FORESHADOWS. 

is  actuated  less  by  sympathy  with  those  that  Avere  perish- 
ing, or  even  deprecating  their  approach  to  himself,  (though 
that  must  have  been  one  element  in  the  consideration,) 
than  he  was  by  the  wish  to  convey  to  Abraham,  and  to 
Lazarus,  the  idea  that  he  himself  never  had  enjoyed  a 
light  that  was  adequate  to  lead  him  to  happiness ;  that  the 
Bible  was  not  sufficient ;  that  it  was  an  imperfect  book,  a 
very  dark  and  dull  book;  that  there  needed  some  extra 
light,  some  new  communication;  and  that,  therefore,  if 
Abraham  would  do  for  his  five  brethren  what  he  had  never 
done  for  him — give  them  a  better  Bible,  a  better  light,  and 
a  surer  guide,  they  would  escape  that  place  of  torment  into 
which  he  had  been  plunged.  There  was,  disguised  under 
this  sympathy  with  his  brethren,  a  charge  of  injustice 
against  God ;  the  whole  characteristic  of  the  fallen  man 
breaking  out:  "Anybody  in  heaven,  or  anybody  on  earth, 
is  to  blame  for  what  I  am ;  and  the  last  person  that  Is 
guilty  is  myself." 

But  suppose  you  look  at  his  proposition  in  its  plain  light ; 
suppose  the  Bible  is  all  that  he  imagined  it  to  be ;  sup- 
pose the  wish  enters  into  our  minds  as  a  very  natural  one; 
and  that  we  should  desire  a  spirit  to  come  from  the  realms 
of  glory  radiant  with  all  its  brightness,  and  reflecting  all 
its  beauty,  or  one  from  the  realms  of  the  lost,  with  all 
their  terrors  portrayed  on  every  feature  of  his  face  too 
vividly  to  be  mistaken,  to  inform  us ;  suppose  the  one 
spirit  or  the  other  were  to  preach  to  us  what  the  rich  man 
wished  his  brethren  might  know  and  feel,  "repentance 
unto  life,"  would  that  be  stronger  evidence  than  we  have? 
Would  it  contribute  more  powerfully  to  our  repentance 
than  the  means  we  have?  Would  it  be  supererogatory, 
and  of  no  use?  or  would  it  be  the  very  thing  we  want  to 
convince  the  unbeliever,  and  convert  the  world?  I  do 
believe  that  the  practical  value  of  such  an  apparition  would 


THE   RETRIBUTION.  87 

be  nothing.  You  answer,  "We  are  accustomed  to  the 
Bible;  we  hear  reiterated  the  truths  of  Christianity  day 
hy  day,  and  they  have  come  to  be  commonplace ;  it  is  too 
true,  the  greatest  blessings  cease  to  be  influential  just  by 
their  commonness;  but  we  think  if  the  awful  silence  were 
to  be  broken ;  if  some  dread  spirit  from  hell  were  to  arise 
from  the  abode  of  torment;  if  he  were  to  tell  us  that  hell 
is  a  reality,  that  heaven  is  a  reality,  that  God  lives,  that 
Christianity  is  true,  that  the  Bible  is  true — it  would  more 
thoroughly  convince  and  deeply  affect  us."  I  believe  it 
would  make  a  momentary  impression,  that  it  would  make 
your  hair  stand  on  end  for  the  time,  but  it  would  not  make 
a  sanctifying  impression  that  would  last  for  twenty  days 
or  weeks  together;  and  for  this  very  plain  and  obvious 
reason :  the  day  you  saw  the  spectre  you  would  believe, 
you  would  be  terrified  and  humbled;  but  after  a  few 
months  you  would  say,  "I  wonder  after  all  whether  that 
spectre  came  from  hell ;  who  knows  but  that  it  may  have 
been  a  trick  played  upon  me  ?  I  wonder  whether  that 
spirit  came  from  heaven ;  who  knows  but  that  it  may  have 
been  some  imposture,  or  a  delusio  vistis?  My  state  of 
health  may  have  been  bad ;  I  may  have  eaten  this  or 
drunk  that,  and  the  consequence  was  that  some  wild  fan- 
tastic picture  passed  before  me,  and  a  disordered  fancy 
created  the  spirit;  it  was  not  after  all  a  commission  from 
God  to  teach  me  these  things."  And  what  next?  You 
would  say,  "  How  can  I  prove  that  it  was  not  so?  I  shall 
consult  a  physician.  (Of  course  he  will  say  it  was  owing 
to  a  disordered  stomach,  which  can  very  easily  be  put 
right.)  I  will  consult  the  evidence,  but  I  have  none  but 
my  own  recollection.  I  have  no  cold,  standing,  stereo- 
typed evidence  on  which  I  can  fall  back,  and  prove  that 
it  was  a  fact,  which  I  now  presume  and  suppose  to  have 
been  a  fancy."  The  excitement,  too,  produced  on  the 


88  FORESHADOWS. 

night  of  its  appearance,  would  soon  be  dissipated;  other 
scenes,  employments,  and  spectacles  would  soon  occupy 
the  mind ;  and  I  venture  to  say  with  certainty,  from  the 
experience  of  the  past,  from  our  common  knowledge  of  our 
common  nature,  that  the  evidence  of  a  connection  between 
time  and  eternity  by  such  an  apparition  would  be  the 
feeblest  and  most  worthless  that  could  be  submitted.  But 
you  say,  What  better  evidence  have  we  in  the  Bible  ?  We 
have  evidence  of  the  fact  that  the  Saviour  lived ;  the  evi- 
dence of  friends  and  foes  that  the  Saviour  died;  evidence, 
on  imperishable  records,  that  the  cross  was  raised,  that 
the  grave  was  opened,  that  the  dead  came  forth,  that  mira- 
cles were  performed,  that  mercies  were  bestowed,  that 
apostles  wrote,  that  evangelists  taught,  that  Christianity 
commenced  in  Palestine,  and  will  not  close  till  the  Millen- 
nium overflows  and  overspreads  the  earth!  For  your 
spectre  you  have  only  a  recollection  that  would  fade  and 
become  dimmer  every  day,  till  it  perished  for  ever  from 
the  earth.  For  Christianity  we  have  evidence,  such  as,  if 
it  were  not  a  question  of  the  heart,  would  soon  decide  the 
point.  If  a  body  of  men  could  be  impanelled  in  a  jury- 
box,  with  no  bad  hearts,  no  passions,  no  prejudices,  but 
only  sober,  cold,  honest,  logical  intellect ;  and  if  the  evi- 
dence by  which  Christianity  is  proved  to  be  divine  were 
brought  before  them,  they  would,  without  one  dissentient 
voice,  declare,  "Christianity  is  true."  It  is  our  preju- 
dices, our  passions,  our  hatred  of  holiness,  our  love  of  sin, 
our  desire  to  make  money,  our  anxiety  to  become  great — 
it  is  these,  and  a  thousand  counteracting  elements,  that  di- 
lute the  evidence  and  destroy  the  impression  which  the 
truths  of  the  gospel  are  fitted  to  produce. 

Apart  from  my  reasoning,  the  reply  by  Abraham  is 
conclusive.  He  says,  "  They  have  Moses  and  the  pro- 
phets; let  them  hear  them."  Let  us  see  what  is  implied 


THE   RETRIBUTION.  89 

in  this.  Every  clause  in  this  parable  is  instinct  with 
important  truth.  First,  it  teaches  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  of  the  future  sufferings  of  the 
lost,  and  the  future  joys  of  the  saved,  was  taught  in  the 
writings  of  Moses  and  the  prophets  ;  that  it  is  not  an 
exclusively  New  Testament,  but  that  it  is  also  an  Old 
Testament  doctrine.  Secondly,  the  reply  of  Abraham 
clearly  proves  that  these  books  of  Moses  and  the  prophets 
are  intelligible  to  those  who  impartially  and  honestly  read 
them.  If  these  five  brethren  were  to  consult  Moses  and 
the  prophets,  it  is  implied  that  they  would  so  far  under- 
stand them  as  to  see  the  way  that  leads  to  heaven,  and 
avoid  the  path  that  leads  to  hell.  And  it  is  implied  in  this 
answer  of  Abraham's,  that  it  is  the  duty  and  privilege  of 
the  people — of  the  laity,  for  such  his  five  brethren  were, 
to  read,  and  that  it  is  in  their  power  to  understand  the 
Scripture.  In  the  Church  of  Rome  the  Bible  is  only  for 
the  priest,  (and  he  makes  very  little  use  of  it  indeed,)  and 
not  for  the  laity  at  all ;  but  here  it  is  implied  that  the 
Bible  was  for  the  rich  man,  and  for  his  five  brethren ; 
and  that  it  was  their  duty  and  privilege  to  read  that 
Bible.  It  is  the  Bible  in  the  hands  of  the  many  that 
is  the  best  guarantee  for  faithful  preaching  by  the  lips 
of  the  few.  If  the  Bible  were  in  every  pew,  and  its 
truths  in  every  head,  ministers  would  not  attempt  to 
preach  Puseyism  or  Popery  from  the  pulpit.  It  is  not  a 
bishop's  superintendence  that  can  put  down  Popery,  nor 
a  presbyter's  supervision  that  can  put  down  infidelity. 
The  Bible  only,  in  the  people's  hands,  can  secure  ortho- 
doxy in  the  preaching  of  ministers  from  the  pulpit.  Re- 
member this  too,  that  your  rule  of  faith  is  not  what  this 
clever  man  says,  or  what  that  clever  man  says,  but  what 
saith  God  ?— not  what  the  best  say,  nor  what  the  worst 
say,  nor  what  the  most  learned  say,  but  what  God  hath 

8* 


90  FORESHADOWS. 

said  in  his  own  blessed  book.  Let  us  weigh  well  and 
deeply  these  important  Avords,  in  these  times  unspeakably 
so :  "  Though  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any 
other  gospel  unto  you  than  that  which  we  have  preached 
unto  you,  let  him  be  Anathema."  If  it  be  in  the  parish 
church,  you  must  leave  it,  for  heresy  is  heresy  anywhere ; 
if  the  blessed  gospel  is  preached  in  a  neighbouring  chapel, 
you  must  go  to  it. 

If  an  angel  come  from  heaven,  and  preach  any  other 
gospel  than  that  ye  have  received,  have  nothing  to  do  with 
it  or  with  him.  We  cannot  disguise  the  fact — Christian 
men  can  judge  whether  what  they  hear  from  the  pulpit  is 
gospel  or  not.  The  proper  way  to  prevent  people  from 
having  more  than  their  right,  is  always  to  let  them  know 
what  is  their  true  right ;  and  if  they  exercise  their  true 
rights,  they  have  no  necessity  for  that  terrible  stretch 
which  leads  them  sometimes  to  seek  to  exercise  rights 
which  do  not  belong  to  them.  But  there  is  another 
argument  which  may  be  drawn  from  this  passage,  a 
fortiori.  If  Moses  and  the  prophets  were  sufficient  to 
enlighten  men,  and  save  their  souls,  still  more  are  Moses, 
the  prophets,  the  apostles,  and  the  evangelists,  sufficient. 
We  therefore  infer  that  the  whole  Bible  is  sufficient  as 
a  rule  of  faith.  Was  the  rich  man  satisfied  with  it  ? 
No.  He  says,  "Nay,  father  Abraham,  if  one  went 
unto  them  from  the  dead,  they  will  repent."  The  deep- 
rooted  conviction  was  in  his  mind,  that  Moses  and  the 
prophets  were  not  sufficient,  that  something  else  was 
needed. 

"  He  that  is  unjust,  let  him  be  unjust  still,"  as  being  the 
characteristic  of  the  lost ;  and  "  He  that  is  just,  let  him 
be  just  still,"  as  the  characteristic  of  the  saved;  words 
showing  that  the  character  which  is  accumulated  here  is 
the  same  that  is  perpetuated  in  eternity.  Be  it  recollected, 


THE    RETRIBUTION.  91 

this  rich  man  was  a  proud  Pharisee.  And  what  was 
always  the  peculiar  demand  of  the  Pharisees  ?  "  Show  us 
a  sign."  "What  sign  showest  thou?"  It  was  not  enough 
that  they  had  Moses  and  the  prophets ;  it  was  not  enough 
that  they  had  the  preaching  of  Christ.  "What  sign 
showest  thou  ?"  What  was  the  predominant  feeling  in  this 
rich  man  ?  "  Show  some  sign.  Let  some  one  rise  from 
the  dead,  and  prove  the  truth  by  something  that  will 
strike  the  senses,  and  then  men  will  helieve."  The  very 
demand  that  was  urged  by  the  Pharisee  in  Jerusalem  finds 
its  echo  in  the  lost  man  in  the  depths  of  perdition. 

The  case  and  history  of  this  rich  man  confirm  what 
Jesus  preached,  what  the  apostles  taught,  and  what  every 
faithful  minister  still  urges — the  necessity  of  genuine  re- 
pentance, that  is,  regeneration  and  renewal  of  heart,  and 
soul,  and  spirit.  "  Father  Abraham,  if  one  rose  from  the 
dead,  they  will  repent :  I  now  see  the  value  of  repentance. 
I  admit,  in  the  depths  of  hell,  the  truth  proclaimed  in 
Jerusalem  by  the  Saviour — 'Except  these  five  repent, 
they  shall  all  likewise  perish.' '  But  mark  the  reply  of 
Abraham,  which  is  a  very  remarkable  one  :  "If  they  hear 
not  Moses  and  the  prophets,  neither  will  they  be  per- 
suaded though  one  rose  from  the  dead."  See  the  contrast. 
The  rich  man  said  they  would  repent.  "  I  tell  you,"  says 
Abraham,  "  that  so  far  from  repenting,  they  would  not  be 
persuaded."  Further,  the  rich  man  says,  If  one  "went" 
unto  them  from  the  dead,  they  would  repent.  Abraham 
replies,  that  they  would  not  be  persuaded,  though  one 
"  rose"  from  the  dead.  Abraham  saw  Christ ;  and  inti- 
mated that  though  HE  should  burst  the  gates  of  the  grave, 
covering  it  with  the  glory  of  heaven,  as  witnessed  by 
witnesses  the  most  unimpeachable,  and  testimony  the  most 
conclusive — yet  even  then  men  would  not  repent.  What 
does  this  teach  us  ?  Surely  the  great  lesson,  that  we 


92  FORESHADOWS. 

ought  more  and  more  to  feel — that  faith  is  not  a  mere 
logical  or  intellectual  conviction.  The  rich  man  thought 
it  was  so.  "If  one  rose  from  the  dead  they  will  repent," 
that  is,  proofs  will  change  the  heart.  Ahraham  says,  they 
would  not  even  be  persuaded,  if  one  were  to  rise  from  the 
dead — even  if  He  were  to  rise,  who  will  rise,  and  become 
the  "first-fruits  of  them  that  sleep."  Here  Abraham 
teaches,  (and  when  I  say  Abraham,  I  mean  Abraham  as 
guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God,)  or  rather  the  parable,  as 
spoken  by  Jesus,  teaches,  that  faith  is  not  a  mere  im- 
pression, to  be  produced  upon  the  senses  by  a  spectre 
from  hell,  or  a  visitant  from  heaven  ;  nor  a  mere  intel- 
lectual conclusion,  to  be  forced  upon  the  mind  by  the  might 
of  irresistible  logic ;  but  that  it  is  something  that  illumi- 
nates the  head,  and  roots  itself  in  the  heart,  and  develops 
its  power  in  genuine  repentance,  and  is  the  impression, 
the  inspiration,  and  teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God. 
Men  sometimes  talk  of  the  necessity  of  miracles  being 
revived  in  order  to  make  men  repent.  Need  I  state,  that 
the  Pharisees  saw  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus,  the  brother 
of  Mary  and  Martha?  And  what  did  they  do?  They 
sought  to  kill  Jesus  and  Lazarus  too.  The  Pharisees  like- 
wise beheld  the  lame  leap  like  the  roe,  the  blind  open 
their  eyes  to  the  rays  of  heaven,  the  dead  rise  from  the 
sepulchre ;  and  they  crucified  the  power  that  did  these 
things,  as  if  that  of  Beelzebub,  not  God.  Pharaoh,  too, 
saw  all  the  plagues  of  Egypt,  miracle  crowding  upon 
miracle,  and  stroke  upon  stroke ;  and  Pharaoh's  heart  was 
hardened  the  more.  The  Jews  saw  in  the  wilderness  the 
hard  rock  burst  open  to  refresh  them,  the  very  clouds  rain 
manna  to  feed  them,  a  bright  flame  march  before  them  by 
night,  and  a  pillar  of  beauteous  cloud  become  their  guide 
by  day,  the  great  sea  open  its  bosom  for  the  redeemed  to 
pass  through,  and  collapse  upon  the  enemies  of  God,  and 


THE   RETRIBUTION.  93 

overwhelm  them ;  yet  they  murmured  and  rebelled,  and 
bowed  down  and  worshipped  idols,  and  left  the  God  of 
their  salvation.  "  If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the  pro- 
phets, neither  will  they  be  persuaded,  though  one  rose 
from  the  dead." 

But  it  may  be  asked,  "  Is  there  evidence  that  the  Bible 
is  God's  book?"  I  cannot  enter  upon  this  now,  nor  is  it 
necessary  that  I  should.  There  is  no  evidence — there  can 
be  no  evidence  more  conclusive  in  the  whole  range  of  moral 
and  intellectual  science,  than  that  which  demonstrates  that 
the  Bible  is  the  book  of  God.  The  excellence,  the  beauty, 
the  spotlessness  of  its  morality,  the  sublimity,  the  super- 
natural grandeur  of  its  truths — truths  which  the  highest 
and  most  gifted  of  ancient  philosophers  never  dreamed  of, 
the  self-sacrificing  lives  of  its  preachers,  its  apostles  and 
evangelists,  the  martyrdoms  they  joyfully  met,  the  toils 
and  perils  which  they  gloriously  encountered,  are  all  evi- 
dences of  its  inspiration.  We  can  prove  to  demonstration, 
that  the  men  who  wrote  the  Gospels  copied  from  a  living 
original.  The  other  day  I  saw  a  cast  of  the  countenance 
of  Shakspeare ;  and  it  was  a  matter  of  dispute  whether  it 
was  really  taken  from  the  original,  as  persons  now  take 
casts  with  plaster  of  Paris.  A  difference  was  observed  in 
the  sides  of  the  face.  A  little  muscle  was  noticed,  which 
exhibited  itself  about  one  eye,  which  was  wanting  in  the 
other ;  and  from  this,  and  certain  other  characteristic  fea- 
tures, the  conclusion  is  irresistible,  that  the  cast  was  lite- 
rally taken  from  the  face  of  the  great  dramatic  poet.  Now, 
if  you  read  the  Gospels  as  I  studied  Shakspeare's  face, 
you  will  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  evangelists  copied 
from  a  living  original ;  that  they  did  not  transcribe  from  a 
copy,  but  that  they  had  the  original  before  them,  which 
they  transferred  with  all  the  perfection  and  none  of  the 
peculiarities  of  the  daguerreotype,  or  the  calotype,  upon 


94  .          FORESHADOWS. 

the  glorious  page  of  the  word  of  God.  Need  I  remind 
you  of  the  other  evidences  that  this  book  is  true — of  the 
miracles  that  sealed  it,  of  which  we  have  infinite  evidence  ? 
Need  I  add,  that  from  the  day  when  the  patriarch  slept, 
till  the  present  moment,  each  prophecy,  as  it  came  to  be 
fulfilled,  has  been  like  something  rising  from  the  dead, 
testifying  to  man  that  God  inspired  the  one  and  watched 
over  the  performance  and  completion  of  the  other  ?  These 
are  all  voices  from  below,  and  voices  from  above ;  analogies 
from  nature,  intimations  from  conscience,  conclusions  from 
reason,  and  inferences  from  facts  to  this  great  proposition, 
(and  would  to  God  that  the  Holy  Spirit  would  make  it  a 
living  conviction  in  every  heart,)  «  Thy  word,  0  God,  is 
truth!" 

I  must  draw  one  or  two  inferences  before  I  close.  If 
the  Bible  is  sufficient  to  lead  us  to  the  knowledge  of  ever- 
lasting life,  it  is  impious  to  ask  for  any  additional  evidence. 
If  the  sun  is  sufficient  to  illuminate  us  by  mid-day,  it  is 
absurd  to  ask  for  a  hand-lamp  to  guide  us  through  the 
fields.  If  you  have  access  to  the  fountain,  you  need  not 
care  much  about  a  "canonized  cup"  to  draw  with.  If  we 
have  God's  great  word  vouched  to  be  sufficient — a  fortiori 
sufficient,  because  it  has  the  evangelists  and  apostles,  added 
to  Moses  and  the  prophets,  then  we  need  nothing  more ; 
we  must  ask  for  nothing  more,  we  must  look  for  nothing 
more.  If  on  this  evidence  the  Bible  be  sufficient  to  lead 
us  to  a  knowledge  of  everlasting  life,  let  us  not  forget  our 
solemn  responsibility  in  possessing  it.  Every  man  may 
thus  carry  in  his  pocket  the  witness  that  may  condemn 
him,  or  the  "savour  of  life  unto  life,"  by  which  he  may 
be  saved.  If  men  would  only  read  the  Bible,  if  they 
would  only  study  it  honestly  and  impartially,  they  would 
find  it  impossible  to  escape  the  conclusion  that  this  book  is 
the  inspiration  of  God.  It  needs  no  great  extent  of  ex- 


THE   RETRIBUTION.  95 

ternal,  or  internal,  or  experimental  evidence  ;  it  only  needs 
an  honest  reading.  The  greatest  skeptics,  I  have  ascer- 
tained, have  admitted  that  they  only  read  snatches  and 
scraps  of  the  Bible,  that  they  never  read  it  for  any  other 
purpose  than  to  find  out  flaws  in  it,  just  as  Zoilus  read 
Homer  of  old,  not  to  admire  his  beauties,  but  to  detect 
defects.  Those  who  read  the  Bible  to  find  flaws  in  it,  and 
therefore  to  reject  it,  will  find  their  discoveries  to  be  stings 
and  lashes,  tormenting  their  souls  when  time  shall  be  no 
more.  Let  us  recollect  that  the  Bible  is  the  last  revela- 
tion that  we  shall  receive  in  this  dispensation.  So  much 
so,  that  if  I  were  to  see  descend  into  the  midst  of  the 
sanctuary  literally  and  truly  an  angel  from  heaven,  filling 
the  whole  place  with  his  splendour,  and  every  soul  with  a 
sense  of  his  glory — if  that  angel  were  to  preach  to  me 
that  justification  by  the  righteousness  of  Christ  alone,  is 
what  the  Puseyites  call  a  Satanic,  Lutheran  doctrine,  and 
that  we  are  justified  only  by  our  own  merits,  admitted  into 
heaven  only  through  the  efficacy  of  our  own  blood,  I  would 
not  trouble  to  canvass  that  angel's  credentials.  I  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  him.  I  would  bid  him  be  off.  I 
would  say,  let  him  be  anathema.  Say  what  you  like,  con- 
sistent with  the  Bible,  and  I  will  listen  to  you ;  but  if  you 
say  any  thing  against  it,  and  say  to  me  that  you  are  com- 
missioned so  to  declare,  I  can  have  nothing  to  do  with  you. 
"For,"  says  the  apostle  Paul,  "if  we,  or  an  angel  from 
heaven,  preach  any  other  gospel  to  you  than  that  which  ye 
have  received,  let  him  be  anathema."  And  what  "we" 
was  this  ?  The  recent  convert  from  Damascus.  He  sup- 
poses the  possibility,  and  admits  the  hypothesis,  that  an 
apostle  might  preach  another  gospel.  If  Paul,  or  some 
one  in  Paul's  name,  professing  to  have  authority,  were  to 
preach  to  me  another  gospel  than  that  which  I  have  re- 
ceived, I  would  say,  let  him  be  anathema.  The  apostle 


96  FORESHADOWS. 

says  "any  other"  gospel,  which  is  not  "another;"  there 
are  two  distinct  words  used.  It  is  (iTspw)  a  succeeding 
gospel — not  merely  something  contradictory,  but  some- 
thing additional  to  the  gospel.  Such  would  not  be  (atto\ 
another  gospel,  but  a  totally  different  gospel.  "  God,  who 
at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners  spoke  in  times  past 
by  the  prophets,  hath  in  these  last  days  spoken  to  us  by 
his  Son  from  heaven."  I  have  heard  Christ's  voice,  and 
I  will  hear  no  other.  I  have  seen  his  glory;  I  dare  not 
suffer  any  other  to  supersede  it.  I  have  his  word ;  I  can- 
not add  to  it,  lest  its  curses  be  added  to  me ;  I  dare  not 
subtract  from  it,  lest  my  portion  in  the  book  of  life  be 
taken  from  me. 


97 


LECTURE  VI. 

THE   VINEYARD   LABOURERS. 

For  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  man  that  is  an  householder,  which 
went  out  early  in  the  morning  to  hire  labourers  into  his  vineyard.  And 
when  he  had  agreed  with  the  labourers  for  a  penny  a  day,  he  sent  them  into 
his  vineyard.  And  he  went  out  about  the  third  hour,  and  saw  others  stand- 
ing idle  iu  the  marketplace,  and  said  unto  them,  Go  ye  also  into  the  vine- 
yard, and  whatsoever  is  right  I  will  give  you.  And  they  went  their  way. 
Again  he  went  out  about  the  sixth  and  ninth  hour,  and  did  likewise.  And 
about  the  eleventh  hour  ho  went  out,  and  found  others  standing  idle,  and  saith 
unto  them,  Why  stand  ye  here  all  the  day  idle  ?  They  say  unto  them,  Be- 
cause no  man  hath  hired  us.  He  saith  unto  them,  Go  ye  also  into  the  vine- 
yard ;  and  whatsoever  is  right,  that  shall  ye  receive.  So  when  even  was 
come,  the  lord  of  the  vineyard  saith  unto  his  steward,  Call  the  labourers,  and 
give  them  their  hire,  beginning  from  the  last  unto  the  first.  And  when  they 
came  that  were  hired  about  the  eleventh  hour,  they  received  every  man  a 
penny.  But  when  the  first  came,  they  supposed  that  they  should  have  re- 
ceived more ;  and  they  likewise  received  every  man  a  penny.  And  when 
they  had  received  it,  they  murmured  against  the  goodman  of  the  house, 
saying,  These  last  have  wrought  but  one  hour,  and  thou  hast  made  them 
equal  unto  us,  which  have  borne  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  day.  But  he 
answered  one  of  them,  and  said,  Friend,  I  do  thee  no  wrong :  didst  not  thou 
agree  with  me  for  a  penny  ?  Take  that  thine  is,  and  go  thy  way :  I  will  give 
unto  this  last,  even  as  unto  thee.  Is  it  not  lawful  for  me  to  do  what  I  will 
with  mine  own  ?  Is  thine  eye  evil,  because  I  am  good  ?  So  the  last  shall  be 
first,  and  the  first  last :  for  many  be  called,  but  few  chosen. — MATT.  xx.  1-16. 

ONE  of  the  most  frequent  symbols  under  which  the 
kingdom  of  heaven,  that  is,  the  dispensation  of  the  gospel, 
is  represented  in  Scripture,  is  that  of  a  vineyard.  We 
can  scarcely  open  a  single  book  without  finding  allusion  to 
it.  Thus,  in  Isaiah  v.  1,  2,  "  Now  will  I  sing  to  my  well- 
beloved,  a  song  of  my  beloved  touching  his  vineyard. 
My  well-beloved  hath  a  vineyard  in  a  very  fruitful  hill ; 


98  FORESHADOWS. 

and  he  fenced  it,  and  gathered  out  the  stones  thereof,  and 
planted  it  with  the  choicest  vine,  and  built  a  tower  in  the 
midst  of  it,  and  also  made  a  winepress  therein ;  and  he 
looked  that  it  should  bring  forth  grapes,  and  it  brought 
forth  wild  grapes,"  and  so  on.  And  the  same  is  brought 
before  us  in  that  beautiful  Psalm,  (Ixxx.  8,)  "  Thou  hast 
brought  a  vine  out  of  Egypt;  thou  hast  cast  out  the 
heathen,  and  planted  it.  Thou  preparedst  room  before  it, 
and  didst  cause  it  to  take  deep  root,  and  it  filled  the  land. 
The  hills  were  covered  with  the  shadow  of  it,  and  the  boughs 
thereof  were  like  the  goodly  cedars.  She  sent  out  her 
boughs  unto  the  sea,  and  her  branches  unto  the  river." 
It  is  thus,  then,  that  very  frequently  in  Scripture  God  re- 
presents his  church,  his  people,  under  the  shadow  or  the 
symbol  of  a  vineyard ;  and  perhaps  one  reason  for  this 
was,  that  vineyards  of  old  were  the  most  precious  and  the 
most  valuable  kind  of  property,  and  were  tended  with 
special  care,  and  received  marked  and  peculiar  attention 
and  labour  from  those  who  were  their  proprietors.  Our 
blessed  Lord  also  represents  himself  under  the  figure  of  a 
vine:  "I  am  the  vine;  ye  are  the  branches;  and  my 
Father  is  the  husbandman."  Now  I  do  not  suppose  here, 
that  the  vineyard,  or  the  kingdom  of  God,  thus  committed 
to  the  earth,  is  the  mere  visible  church :  I  do  think  it  is 
too  sacred  and  too  sublime  a  figure  to  be  exhausted,  or  to 
be  adequately  met,  in  the  mere  visible  church — that  church 
which  is  composed  alike  of  the  tares  and  the  wheat,  the 
good  and  the  bad.  I  would  rather  view  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  as  a  trust ;  a  trust  that  was  committed  to  Adam  in 
Paradise  first  of  all,  and  which  he  lost ;  a  trust  which  was 
committed  subsequently  to  the  Jews,  and  which  they  for- 
feited ;  a  precious  trust,  and  a  holy  deposit,  which  is  now 
committed  to  the  Gentiles ;  for  the  use,  the  acceptance, 
or  the  rejection  and  abuse,  of  which  they  will  be  respon- 


THE   VINEYARD   LABOURERS.  99 

sible  before  God.  It  was  spoken  of  in  Isaiah  as  oeing 
"hedged  round;"  that  is,  protected  from  the  cold  winds. 
And  we  read  of  a  partition  wall  that  distinguished  the 
trust  of  the  Jews  from  that  of  the  Gentiles,  which  was  an 
inner  hedge.  God's  ancient  people,  the  Jews,  specially 
raised  up,  had  a  portion  "hedged  round,"  and  laid  out 
upon  the  sunniest  part  of  the  earth,  and  watered  with 
genial  dews ;  the  subject  of  marked  and  ceaseless  care,  in 
order  that  there  might  be  one  spot  on  the  round  globe,  on 
which  God's  name  might  be  heard,  God's1  praise  might  be 
uttered,  and  good  fruit  ripen,  and  his  glory  be  set  forth. 

In  looking  to  this  vineyard,  as  it  is  represented  in  the 
chapter  from  which  I  have  read  the  parable — a  parable 
attended  Avith  peculiar  difficulties,  perhaps  greater  diffi- 
culties than  any  of  the  parables  which  we  have  yet  con- 
sidered— I  would  notice,  first  of  all,  the  labourers  sent  into 
it.  These  are  Christians.  I  view  the  vineyard  as  the  site 
of  the  true  church.  I  view  the  labourers  sent  into  it  as 
Christians,  or  believers ;  those  who  hear  the  gospel  invi- 
tation, and  cordially  and  heartily  embrace  it.  The  reason 
for  their  entering  is  simply  the  call  of  Christ :  this  is  their 
authority,  the  only  and  the  highest  warrant  that  man  can 
have ;  and  the  reward  they  are  promised  is  a  reward  not 
in  the  ratio  of  their  merits — for  they  had  only  demerits 
in  the  sight  of  God — but  a  reward  bestowed  by  the  same 
sovereignty  that  called  them  into  the  vineyard,  not  of 
merit,  but  of  grace. 

At  successive  hours,  we  read,  the  great  husbandman,  or 
the  householder,  or,  as  he  is  in  another  place  called,  the 
goodrnan  of  the  house — all  of  which  are  various  transla- 
tions of  the  same  expression — went  out  at  the  third  hour, 
the  sixth  hour,  the  ninth  hour,  and  finally,  at  the  eleventh 
hour ;  and  at  each  hour  he  found  persons  standing  idle  in 
the  market-place.  It  is  the  custom  in  Scotland,  for  those 


100  FORESHADOWS. 

requiring  employment,  to  go  to  a  certain  place,  a  hiring- 
place,  and  in  that  place  they  remain  until  masters  engage 
them  for  six  or  twelve  months,  or  whatever  the  term  may 
be.  This  is  the  remains  of  an  Eastern  custom.  Those 
that  wished  to  be  engaged,  stood  idle  in  the  market-place ; 
and  those  who  required  servants,  came  and  hired  them, 
and  agreed  with  them  for  so  much.  Now  the  master  of 
the  house  goes  out  at  different  hours,  and  he  finds  men 
standing  idle.  Does  not  this  teach  us,  that  all  is  idleness, 
however  laborious  it  may  be,  which  is  not  in  some  shape 
or  way,  directly  or  indirectly,  associated  with  our  own 
preparation  for  eternity,  or  with  the  progress  of  the  king- 
dom of  God  upon  earth?  While  we  are  doing  nothing  for 
Christ,  we  are  standing  idle,  however  busy  we  may  other- 
wise be.  All  works  for  mere  amusement,  and  not  for  re- 
laxation; all  reading  for  mere  enjoyment,  and  in  no  shape, 
directly  or  indirectly,  for  profit ;  all  labour  which  is  for 
the  purpose  of  getting  more  than  we  need,  or  to  lay  out  in 
luxuries  which  are  really  not  needful ;  every  thing  which 
we  cannot  show  to  be  in  some  shape,  directly  or  indirectly, 
connected  with  the  spread,  the  maintenance,  and  progress 
of  the  kingdom  of  God  in  our  own  souls,  or  in  the  com- 
munity at  large,  are  here  pronounced  to  be  idleness,  how- 
ever bustling  we  may  seem ;  and  those  who  thus  live  are 
standing  idle,  and  doing  nothing  for  God  and  for  his 
kingdom. 

At  the  evening  each  of  those  hired  and  employed  was 
called,  and  received  precisely  that  which  the  householder 
had  promised  to  give  him.  He  does  not  speak  of  their 
merits,  or  of  their  deserts,  but  simply  gives  each  his  wages 
— "each  received  a  penny."  In  other  words,  each  obtains 
the  perfect  fulfilment  of  the  promise :  the  last,  who  had 
laboured  only  an  hour,  receives  a  penny — (for  I  need  not 
remark  that  the  morning  commenced  at  six — the  first  hour 


THE   VINEYARD   LABOURERS.  101 

was  therefore  at  six  o'clock.  Those  that  came  in  at  the 
eleventh  hour,  came  in  at  five.)  Six  o'clock  was  the  hour 
to  leave  off.  There  were  no  late  hours  of  business  then. 
Men  then  ceased  their  labour  very  much  earlier ;  either 
they  were  less  covetous  then,  or  there  was  less  competition 
than  now.  Each  man  received  a  penny.  Had  he  given 
less,  there  would  have  been  injustice ;  had  he  given  more, 
there  would  have  been  generosity:  but  giving  what  he 
promised  was  simple  and  exact  justice.  But  the  moment 
that  he  did  so,  we  read  there  was  murmuring.  We  cannot 
conceive  this  murmuring  to  take  place  at  the  judgment- 
seat  of  Christ.  We  can  conceive  of  questions  being  asked 
there,  as  in  the  25th  chapter  of  Matthew,  where  those  on 
the  left  hand  ask,  "When  saw  we  thee  an  hungred,  or 
athirst,  or  a  stranger,  or  naked,  or  sick,  or  in  prison,  and 
did  not  minister  unto  thee  ?"  But  we  cannot  well  suppose 
that  there  can  be  murmuring  in  the  bosom  of  one  of  the 
saved,  at  any  expression  of  the  goodness  of  God  to  the 
soul  of  a  fellow- creature  also  saved.  So  far  the  earthly 
parable  must  be  an  imperfect  exponent  of  divine  truths ; 
and  hence  it  requires  judgment,  or  else  it  requires  what  is 
the  rarest  thing  of  all,  common  sense,  as  well  as  the  guid- 
ing Spirit  of  God,  to  enable  us  to  interpret  the  parables 
of  Scripture.  If  we  try  to  screw  out  a  meaning  from 
every  word,  we  make  the  parable  appear  nonsense ;  but  if 
we  look  at  the  one  great  end  and  specific  aim  of  the  pa- 
rable, and  regard  much  of  it  as  subsidiary  to  that,  but 
necessary  for  the  completeness  and  connection  of  the 
story,  we  shall  find  we  have  generally  not  failed  in  reach- 
ing the  true  meaning  of  the  parable.  They  began  to  mur- 
mur; and  when  they  murmured,  the  master,  the  house- 
holder, is  represented  as  answering  one  of  them,  "Friend, 
I  do  thee  no  wrong.''  They  thought  it  a  very  strange 
thing,  and  so  it  seems  to  us  at  first,  that  those  who  had 

9*  .     • 


102  FORESHADOWS. 

wrought  but  one  hour,  should  have  precisely  the  same 
wages  as  those  who  had  worked  twelve  hours,  from  six  till 
six.  The  householder  selects  evidently  one  of  the  noisiest. 
Never  is  there  a  mob,  but  there  is  a  leader  who  is  more 
boisterous  than  the  rest ;  possibly  because  he  is  the  least 
hurt,  or  is  the  most  independent,  or  because  he  hopes  to 
gain  the  most.  It  is  not  always  that  the  greatest  noise  is 
proof  of  the  greatest  necessity,  but  often  the  reverse.  To 
the  noisiest  of  the  labourers  the  householder  speaks  in 
kind  but  decided  terms:  "Friend,  I  do  thee  no  harm;  I 
promised  to  give  you  a  penny,  and  I  have  given  you  the 
penny;  and  you  ought  therefore  to  depart,  and  be  per- 
fectly satisfied.  If  I  gave  you  less,  I  should  be  unjust ; 
if  I  gave  you  more,  it  would  be  generosity :  to  give  you 
precisely  what  I  promised,  is  even-handed  justice.  If  the 
money  be  mine,  that  is,  my  property,  surely  I  have  a  right 
to  give  as  much  more  as  I  like ;  and  when  I  give  you  what 
I  agreed  to  do,  I  have  done  what  you  must  own  to  be  fair 
and  reasonable.  So  go  thy  way,  I  do  thee  no  harm." 
Then  is  added  the  reflection,  "the  last  shall  be  first,  and 
the  first  shall  be  last."  I  differ  very  much  from  the  com- 
mon interpretation  of  this  verse.  I  do  not  know  that  I  am 
right,  but  I  shall  state  my  view  of  the  case,  and  leave  the 
reader  to  decide.  « The  last  shall  be  first,  and  the  first 
last;  for  many  be  called,  but  few  chosen."  First,  as  re- 
gards the  expression,  "the  last  shall  be  first;"  I  do  not 
think  the  idea  of  rejection  is  contemplated  at  all.  All  the 
labourers  are  called  into  the  vineyard :  not  one  rejects  the 
invitation :  they  are  all  admitted ;  there  is  nothing  stated 
in  the  conduct  of  one  that  is  not  contained  in  the  conduct 
of  another;  there  is  no  distinction  as  to  their  toils,  none 
as  to  their  merits;  there  is  simply  a  difference  as  to  the 
time  when  they  were  called  into  the  vineyard.  It  is  then 
said,  "Many  that  are  last  shall  be  first."  Those  that 


THE  VINEYARD  LABOURERS.          103 

came  in  toward  night  may  yet  have  the  first  reward ;  arid 
those  that  came  in  early  in  the  morning  may  have  the  last 
reward.  I  conceive  this  to  be  fairly  illustrated  in  such  a 
case  as  this : — Many  persons  are  early  called  to  the  know- 
ledge of  the  truth.  They  hear  the  gospel  in  early  years ; 
they  cordially  embrace  it;  their  hearts  come  under  the 
divine  influence ;  and  quietly  and  gently  they  pass  through 
life  blameless  :  not  specially  distinguished,  nor  character- 
ized to  the  extent  to  which  they  should  be,  by  making 
sacrifices  for  the  gospel ;  but  still  true  Christians,  ripening 
for  glory.  Others  again  hear  the  gospel  call  at  thirty  or 
forty  years  of  age ;  nay,  some  at  seventy.  They  joy  in 
the  gospel ;  they  embrace  it  cordially ;  but  they  concen- 
trate into  the  last  hours  of  their  life  a  degree  of  energy, 
an  amount  of  vigour,  a  singleness  of  eye,  a  simplicity  of 
purpose,  a  devotedness  of  heart,  that  are  greater,  though 
not  longer,  than  all  the  efforts  and  sacrifices  of  those  that 
were  called  before  them.  Such,  for  instance,  was  the  case 
with  the  apostle  Paul.  He  was  called,  it  may  be,  at  forty 
years  of  age ;  yet  he  was-  more  abundant  in  labours  than 
all  the  apostles.  Such  was  the  case  with  John  Newton. 
He  was  called  unto  the  gospel  at  a  late  age ;  yet  that 
man's  life  was  a  life  of  wonderful  vigour.  So  that  when 
we  look  at  what  some  of  these  men  have  been,  we  must  be 
astonished  at  what  human  energy  is  capable  of,  when  sus- 
tained and  sanctified  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God.  Now 
then,  Paul,  called  at  forty,  may  have  a  richer  reward  than 
John,  called  young ;  and  John  Newton,  called  late  in  life, 
may  have  a  higher  seat  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven  than 
many  who  are  called  in  boyhood,  and  have  walked  con- 
sistently to  the  end  of  their  pilgrimage.  Just  as  there  are 
degrees  of  suffering  among  the  lost,  there  are  degrees  of 
glory  among  the  saved.  "In  my  Father's  house  are  many 
mansions;"  and  these  mansions  of  greater  or  lesser  size, 


104  FORESHADOWS. 

of  brighter  or  lesser  splendour.  Each  heart  shall  be  full ; 
but  one  heart  may  have  a  capacity  for  joy  which  another 
heart  has  not.  Each  shall  be  happy ;  and  yet  one  shall 
be  happier,  nobler,  and  greater,  than  another.  But  that 
part  of  the  passage  on  which  I  would  differ  from  the  com- 
mon interpretation — and  I  am  constrained  to  do  so,  just 
from  searching  out  from  the  New  Testament — is  the  words 
"many  are  called."  I  have  read  several  sermons  on  this 
passage,  and  they  all  understand  by  it,  that  many  are 
called  to  accept  the  gospel,  but  only  a  few,  being  the  elect 
according  to  grace,  accept  it,  and  are  thus  saved.  I  do 
not  think  it  has  any  such  meaning.  They  say  that  the 
interpretation  is,  that  many  are  called  by  the  preaching 
of  the  gospel,  but  that  only  a  few  accept  it.  Now  my 
reason  for  differing  from  this  interpretation  is,  not  that  I 
disbelieve  election — the  very  reverse ;  I  believe  the  doc- 
trine to  be  perfectly  true.  I  cannot  comprehend  it,  it  is 
true,  and  it  Avould  be  a  wonder  if  any  finite  mind  could 
comprehend  all  the  displays  of  God's  infinite  procedure. 
I  cannot  say,  reader,  whether  you  be  elect  or  not ;  but 
this  I  can  say,  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from 
all  sins."  I  cannot  say  whether  you  be  elect  or  not;  but 
this  I  can  say,  "Except  a  man  be  born  again,  he  cannot 
see  the  kingdom  of  God."  Make  you  sure  of  the  contact 
of  the  gospel  with  your  individual  heart,  and  you  may 
make  the  lofty  and  mysterious  corollary, — "yours  is  the 
kingdom  of  heaven."  But  I  conceive  this  expression  has 
nothing  to  do  with  election ;  for  the  parable  does  not  speak 
of  any  who  refuse  the  invitation,  but  of  those  only  that  came 
into  the  vineyard ;  for  it  says  that  all  who  were  called  on 
this  occasion,  cordially  embraced  the  call,  and  entered  into 
the  vineyard,  and  spent  their  time  in  it.  But  the  best 
way  of  ascertaining  it  is  by  finding  the  meaning  of  the 
word  call.  I  have  taken  the  Greek  lexicon,  and  searched 


THE  VINEYARD  LABOURERS.          105 

out  every  instance  in  the  New  Testament  where  it  is  em- 
ployed ;  and  I  have  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  not  in 
one  instance  does  call  mean  call  to  believe,  addressed,,  to 
them  that  do  not  believe,  and  no  more :  in  every  instance 
it  means  or  involves  being  a  Christian.  The  word  is  y-^roq. 
In  Romans  i.  1,  "called  to  be  an  apostle."  Paul  says  he 
was  called  to  be  an  apostle.  Again,  in  the  same  chapter, 
ver.  46,  « called  of  Jesus  Christ."  Again,  at  ver.  7, 
"  called  to  be  saints."  He  is  speaking  of  them  that  actually 
were  saints.  What  does  he  mean  by  being  called  to  be  an 
apostle  ?  Being  made  an  apostle.  Or  by  being  called  to 
be  saints  ?  Being  made  or  constituted  saints.  So  again 
in  Romans  viii.  28,  he  is  speaking  of  all  things  working 
together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,  "to  them  who 
are  the  called  according  to  his  purpose."  These  are  un- 
questionably true  believers.  Again,  in  the  First  Epistle 
to  the  Corinthians,  i.  1,  "To  them  that  are  sanctified  in 
Christ  Jesus,  called  to  be  saints."  These  must  be  true 
Christians,  as  they  are  described  to  be  sanctified  in  Christ 
Jesus.  Again,  in  ver.  24,  "But  unto  them  which  *  are 
called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks,  Christ  the  power  of  God, 
and  the  wisdom  of  God."  And  then  in  the  Revelation, 
xvii.  14,  describing  true  Christians,  "  They  that  are  with 
him  are  called,  and  chosen,  and  faithful."  These  are 
Christ's  own  people.  Thus  I  have  given,  I  think,  nearly 
every  instance  of  the  word  xtyroq,  in  its  singular  or  plural 
number,  occurring  in  the  New  Testament ;  and  in  every 
instance  it  means  truly  converted. 

I  think  therefore  I  am  warranted  in  putting  this  inter- 
pretation on  the  text,  seeing  the  whole  usage  of  Scripture 
speaks  in  the  same  way  ? 

'  I  understand,  therefore,  that  "  many  are  called"  implies, 
not  that  many  are  called  who  reject  the  gospel,  but  that 
there  are  many  Christians,  but  few  pre-eminently,  dis- 


106  FORESHADOWS. 

tinctively,  peculiarly  so.  It  is  a  difference  of  degree  i-n 
Christian  character,  not  a  distinction  between  those  who 
are  not  Christians  and  those  who  are.  Many  are  called, 
that  is,  there  are  many  Christians,  but  few  are  the  exlexrol. 
The  origin  of  the  word  is  the  same :  that  is,  distinctively, 
emphatically,  peculiarly  called,  so  as  to  rise  and  tower 
above  the  rest,  like  Paul  in  the  college  of  apostles ;  or 
like  pre-eminent  Christian  ministers  and  Christian  people, 
among  the  multitude  around  them. 

There  is  a  sovereignty  in  it ;  but  it  is  a  sovereignty  not 
in  excluding  some  and  admitting  others,  but  a  sovereignty 
that  deals  with  Christians  in  making  some  specially  and 
signally  illustrious  for  their  devotedness,  piety,  and  Chris- 
tian character.  I  cannot,  therefore,  taking  the  passage 
fairly  in  connection  with  other  passages  of  holy  writ,  come 
to  any  interpretation  but  this.  I  admit  there  is  sove- 
reignty here  ;  but  is  there  not  sovereignty  in  every  thing  ? 
There  is  sovereignty  in  creation  ;  one  man  is  born  strong, 
another  weak ;  one  healthy,  another  sickly  and  delicate ; 
one  heir  to  a  fortune,  another  heir  to  poverty  and  drudgery. 
Is  not  this  sovereignty  ?  There  is  no  merit  or  demerit  in 
t^e  babe ;  it  is  the  sovereignty  of  God  that  makes  the  dis- 
tinction. Again,  there  is  sovereignty  in  providence  ;  one 
man,  do  what  he  will,  becomes  richer ;  another  man,  strive 
as  he  may,  becomes  poorer:  one  man  is  wrecked  in  storms 
and  tempests ;  another  man  basks  perpetually  in  sunshine. 
You  cannot  altogether,  in  every  instance,  say  it  is  the 
folly  of  the  one  and  the  excellence  of  the  other ;  but  you 
must  see  above  all  merit,  and  beyond  all  demerit,  a  sove- 
reignty dealing  with  men,  and  arranging  them  as  to  that 
sovereignty  seems  best.  We  little  know  what  little  things 
we  are,  and  how  completely  we  are  in  the  hand  and  under 
the  control  and  the  disposal  of  Deity.  We  see  sove- 
reignty  in  the  calling  of  Abraham — why  was  he  selected — 


THE  VINEYARD  LABOURERS.  107 

an  idolater  in  TJr  of  the  Chaldees  ?  in  the  choice  of  Jacob  ; 
in  the  selection  of  the  Jews  to  be  a  peculiar  nation — why 
were  they  selected  ?  These  are  all  instances  of  sove- 
reignty; and  there  is  sovereignty  in  our  conversion. 
"Who  hath  saved  us  and  called  us  with  a  holy  calling,"N 
says  the  apostle.  "Many  are  called,"  is  the  rendering 
of  the  very  same  word,  only  in  another  form,  which  is 
translated  here  "calling."  "Who  hath  saved  us,  and 
called  us  with  a  holy  calling,  not  according  to  our  works, 
but  according  to  his  own  purpose."  And  again,  he  said 
to  his  disciples,  "Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have 
chosen  you."  In  other  words,  it  tells  us  that  God  has 
bestowed  special  distinctions  upon  some  of  his  people 
which  he  has  withheld  from  others  ;  that  all  Christians  are 
"  the  called  ;"  that  the  few  and  far  between  tower  above 
the  rest,  and  are  signalized  by  eminent  devotedness  and 
self-sacrifice  for  God. 

Now  then,  from  the  whole  of  this,  if  this  be  the  fair 
interpretation  of  the  parable,  we  learn  this  lesson ;  that 
it  is  not  the  time  of  our  service  that  God  looks  at  so  much, 
or  that  we  should  think  of,  but  the  intensity  of  our  devo- 
tedness during  the  time,  short  or  long  that  is  given  us. 
Every  man  should  presume  that  the  time  that  remains  for 
him  is  short,  and  that  the  more  he  can  crowd  into  the 
little  space  that  remains,  of  consecration  to  God,  of  sym- 
pathy with  those  that  suffer,  of  devotedness  to  what  is 
good,  'of  sacrifice  for  the  promotion  of  what  is  beneficent 
and  holy,  the  more  likely  he  is  to  be  among  the  ezfexro} 
who  are  distinguished  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  and  not 
merely  among  the  xfyro},  who  are  Christians  of  the  ordi- 
nary stamp  and  cast. 

In  the  second  place,  we  learn  that  God  will  be  true  to 
his  promises,  the  least  and  the  greatest  of  them.  There 
was  not  one  of  those  in  the  vineyard  who  could  say,  "You 


108  FORESHADOWS. 

made  me  a  promise  which  you  have  not  performed ;"  they 
were  constrained  to  say,  "  You  have  given  us  all  you  pro- 
mised." When  we  stand  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  we  shall 
not  find  that  there  was  one  jot  in  one  promise  that  has 
not  been  amply  realized  and  fulfilled  in  our  experience. 
God's  promises  are  stronger  than  man's  performance. 
We  may  rely  upon  the  least  promise  of  God  more 
surely,  and  with  more  unhesitating  confidence,  than  we 
can  rely  upon  the  everlasting  hills,  or  upon  any  created 
thing  in  the  universe  of  God.  Faithful  is  he  that  has 
promised ;  all  his  promises  are  yea  and  amen ;  and  when 
heaven  shall  have  passed  away  like  a  scroll,  and  the  earth 
and  the  things  that  are  therein  shall  he  burned  up,  Ave  shall 
find  fulfilled  what  he  has  said,  that  not  one  jot  or  tittle  has 
failed  of  all  the  promises  of  God. 

Again,  we  learn  that  some  reach  higher  degrees  of  glory 
than  others.  Certainly  throughout  the  Bible  there  seems 
to  be  a  promise  that  some,  who  especially  abound  in  devo- 
tedness  to  God,  shall  reach  higher  degrees  of  glory. 
Never,  however,  misapprehend  me  for  a  moment.  Our 
right  and  title  to  heaven,  is  the  finished  work  and  righteous- 
ness of  our  blessed  Lord.  Nothing  else,  nothing  instead 
of  it,  nothing  added  to  it,  nothing  beside  it;  it  is  that 
alone. 

But  at  the  same  time  our  justification  and  acceptance 
with  God  is  not  the  close  of  our  Christianity :  it  is  only 
the  commencement  of  it.  It  is  elevating  us  to  that  plat- 
form, standing  upon  which,  we  can  see  God  as  our  Father, 
and  thence  go  forth  as  sons  to  serve  him.  If  there  be 
degrees  of  service,  may  there  not  be  degrees  of  glory? 
If  there  be  degrees  of  consecration  below,  may  there  not 
be  degrees  of  happiness  above  ?  I  do  not  believe  that 
heaven  is  a  macadamized  place,  a  mere  dead  level;  or 
that  all  is  equality  there.  Fraternity  there  is ;  equality 


41 
THE   VINEYARD   LABOURERS.  109 

there  is  not.  I  believe  there  are  degrees  of  glory,  grada- 
tions of  blessedness,  crowns  that  differ  in  their  lustre, 
hearts  that  differ  in  their  beats ;  just  as  one  star  differeth 
from  another  in  glory.  "They  that  be  wise,  and  turn 
many  to  righteousness,  shall  shine  as  the  stars  in  the  firma- 
ment for  ever  and  ever."  And  yet  there  shall  be  no 
merit  on  our  part ;  the  least  particle  of  grace,  and  the 
loftiest  and  richest  flood  of  glory,  shall  equally  come  from 
free  grace.  So  that  he  that  rises  to  the  highest  pinnacle 
of  the  highest  throne  in  heaven,  and  he  that  worships  in 
the  same  sunshine  at  the  foot  of  it,  shall  equally  feel  that 
they  were  saved  by  grace,  and  shall  equally  sing,  Not  unto 
us,  "but  unto  him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our 
sins  in  his  own  blood,  and  hath  made  us  kings  and  priests 
unto  God  and  his  Father,  be  glory  and  dominion  for  ever 
and  ever." 

Let  us  learn  another  lesson.  God  is  sovereign,  and  yet 
just.  If  he  makes  difference  of  labour  below,  and  gives 
difference  of  reward  above,  there  is  sovereignty  in  that ; 
because  if  one  man  excels  another  in  devotedness,  it  is 
because  there  has  been  given  to  one  man  an  excess  of 
grace  over  what  has  been  given  to  another.  And  yet  no 
one  will  say  that  God  is  unjust.  "  He  is  faithful  and  just 
to  forgive  ;"  he  is  sovereign  to  add  to  that  forgiveness 
distinguished  and  innumerable  blessings.  "  Just  and  true 
art  thou,  0  King  of  saints."  And  does  not  this  teach 
us,  that  if  God  is  thus  sovereign  in  distinguishing  us  and 
in  making  us  to  differ,  that  we  should  be  prepared  to  see  in 
the  church  some  ministers  much  more  devoted  than  others, 
and  some  people  much  more  self-sacrificing  than  others  ; 
some  that  live  more  entirely  and  continuously  for  the 
spread  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  for  the  truths  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ.  And  if  we  see  it,  that  should  not 
make  us  envious.  You  must  not  envy  one  Christian  be- 

II.  SER.  10 


FORESHADOWS. 


cause  he  excels  you  in  gifts  and  graces.  You  must  not 
look  with  contempt  upon  another  who  has  not  the  same 
gifts,  and  is  a  stranger  to  the  full  and  glorious  graces 
that  you  have.  You  must  always  say,  "  Who  hath  made 
us  to  differ  ?"  "Why  am  I  greater  than  this  man?" 
"  Why  am  I  inferior  to  another?"  The  answer  is,  that 
God,  in  his  sovereignty,  has  made  the  difference  ;  and  the 
inference  is,  that  you  are  responsible  to  God,  not  for  what 
a  brother  is,  but  for  what  you  have  and  are  before  God. 

All  in  the  market-place  were  invited  into  the  vineyard. 
So  is  it  still.  The  invitations  of  the  gospel  are  addressed 
to  all ;  all  are  welcome  to  embrace  them ;  and  if  any  do 
not  accept  them,  they  will  never  forget  it  is  their  own 
fault,  and  their  own  fault  alone.  No  man  yet  was  ever 
able  to  urge  at  the  judgment-seat,  or  is  able  to  urge  upon 
earth,  "When  I  wished  to  believe  in  the  Saviour,  to 
renounce  sin  and  cleave  to  Christ,  I  found  a  decree  like  a 
wall  of  brass  standing  in  the  way,  and  separating  me  from 
Christ."  There  is  no  such  thing.  No  man's  conscience 
is  bad  enough  to  make  such  an  excuse ;  and  those  who 
quarrel  about  predestination  and  election  being  difficulties, 
are  beginning  to  study  at  the  university  before  they  have 
entered  the  dame's  school  and  learned  the  elements  of 
reading.  Let  us  be  Christians  first ;  let  us  study  mysteries 
next.  Let  us  see  that  we  accept  the  call ;  and  then  it  will 
be  time,  as  the  sons  of  God,  admitted  to  a  clearer  light, 
to  study  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Nay 
more  ;  study  prophecy — by  all  means  study  it ;  but  let  the 
preacher  take  care,  and  let  the  people  remember  that  it  is 
possible  to  discuss  the  rise  and  fall  of  kings,  and  the  pro- 
gress of  that  glorious  kingdom  into, which  all  the  kingdoms 
of  this  world  shall  be  brought,  and  yet  to  have  no  lot  or 
share  in  it.  Nothing  must  supersede,  nothing  must  lead 
us  to  postpone,  our  own  personal  acceptance  of  the  gospel, 


THE   VINEYARD   LABOURERS.  Ill 

our  own  acceptance  of  Christ  as  our  priest,  and  prophet, 
and  king.  Let  us  be  sure  of  this  first.  This  is  impera- 
tive ;  all  else  is  non-essential.  This  is  personal ;  all  else 
relates  to  things  external  to  us.  "Except  ye  be  born 
again,  ye  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 

Let  me  notice,  in  the  next  place,  a  very  important  and 
interesting  truth,  namely,  that  sinners  are  converted  in 
old  age.  Now  it  is  very  curious  that  those  men  who  dwell 
upon  the  passage,  "many  are  called,  but  few  chosen," 
and  interpret  "many  are  called,"  as  those  who  are  merely 
invited,  but  refuse;  and  "few  are  the  chosen,"  as  those 
that  really  accept,  believe  that  there  is  salvation  at  the 
eleventh  hour.  I  find  this  strange  inconsistency  in  almost 
all  the  sermons  that  are  Avritten  on  this  parable.  It  is  an 
inconsistency ;  for  the  passage,  according  to  their  interpre- 
tation of  it,  indicates  no  such  thing  as  salvation  at  the 
eleventh  hour.  I  understand  all  that  are  called,  to  be 
those  that  are  saved ; — those  that  are  called  at  the  first, 
the  third,  the  sixth,  the  ninth,  and  the  eleventh  hour,  to 
be  the  saved.  And,  therefore,  I  believe  there  is  salvation 
and  acceptance  for  the  oldest  criminal  at  the  latest  year 
of  his  pilgrimage  upon  earth.  If  you  postpone  the 
thoughts  of  God,  the  soul,  eternity,  until  old  age,  calcu- 
lating on  this,  that  is  a  very  different  thing ;  but  if  at  this 
moment  I  find  you  old — with  one  foot  on  the  brink  of  the 
grave,  and  one  foot  in  it — to  you  there  is  freely,  fully 
offered,  instant  peace  with  God,  just  as  truly,  as  plainly, 
as  it  is  offered  to  the  youngest  man  or  woman  upon  earth. 
At  the  eleventh  hour  they  obeyed,  just  as  they  did  at  the 
first  hour ;  and  both  those  called  at  the  first,  and  those  at 
the  eleventh  hour,  entered  the  vineyard  and  laboured  for 
God.  Then  what  a  consolation  is  this,  that  if  the  young 
are  specially  invited,  the  old  are  not  excluded  !  And  what 
a  comfort  is  this,  that  one  can  go  to  the  bed  of  the  dying, 


112  FORESHADOWS. 

and  though  it  should  be  at  the  eleventh  hour,  though  it 
be  upon  the  stroke  of  the  twelfth,  yet  who  can  say  that 
the  pointing  out  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  and  the  efficacy  of 
his  blood,  in  a  minute's  sermon  at  the  bedside,  may  not  be 
blessed  as  much  as  an  hour's  in  the  house  of  prayer ;  the 
exhibition  of  Christ  to  the  expiring  eye  of  the  soul  may  be 
salvation,  just  as  the  exhibition  of  the  serpent  of  brass  to 
the  closing  eye  of  the  dying  man  upon  the  field  of  old 
was  instant  health,  strength,  and  recovery. 

Amazing  happiness !  What  a  glorious  gospel  is  this, 
that  warrants  one  to  go  to  the  hearts  that  are  free,  and 
the  hearts  that  are  bound,  and  say  to  every  one  without 
exception,  «  Believe  thou  on  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt 
be  saved."  Nay,  it  is  remarkable  enough,  that  almost 
every  instance  in  the  Bible  of  the  conversion  of  men  who 
had  advanced  in  year  sunconverted,  was  one  of  what  seems 
instant  conversion.  In  the  case  of  the  jailer  of  Philippi, 
who  inquired,  "What  must  I  do  to  be  saved?"  the  answer 
given  was,  "  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou 
shalt  be  saved,  and  thy  house."  What  is  added?  "He 
rejoiced,  believing  in  God  with  all  his  house."  In  the  same 
hour  the  man  believed  the  gospel,  and  rejoiced  in  the 
belief  and  the  acknowledgment  of  that  gospel.  I  do  not 
think  that,  when  a  person  is  dying,  it  is  right  to  say, 
"  He  is  too  old  to  see  a  minister  or  a  Christian — (I  do  not 
much  care  whether  it  be  the  one  or  the  other ;)  he  is  too 
ill,  too  far  gone."  Do  not  say  that  there  is  no  hope,  as 
long  as  life  lasts :  but  go,  tell  them  of  the  instant  cure  for 
all  degrees  and  shades  of  sin.  Many  a  soul  upon  the  very 
verge  of  the  twelfth  hour,  has  been  plucked  as  a  brand 
from  the  burning,  and  entered  into  the  realms  of  ever- 
lasting glory.  I  know  not  what  despair  is  with  such -a, 
book  in  my  hand  as  the  Bible,  and  such  a  gospel  as 
Christ's  gospel  in  my  heart.  I  despair  of  none ;  I 


THE   VINEYARD   LABOURERS.  113 

would  give  over  none ;  I  would  speak  to  all ;  pray  with 
all ;  and  leave  the  Sovereignty  that  controls  angels  and 
saves  men,  to  do  his  will  when,  where,  and  as  it  shall  be 
most  for  his  glory,  and  for  our  good.  Here  lie  the  virtue 
and  glory  of  the  gospel ;  it  is  an  instant  and  miraculous 
cure  for  all  sorts  of  moral,  desperate  soul-diseases.  Let 
us  never  forget  this,  by  the  pillows  of  the  sick,  at  the  bed- 
side of  the  dying,  or  wherever  we  may  be. 

A  beautiful  extract  from  a  paper  has  been  sent  me, 
detailing  a  narrative  of  great  interest.  At  the  battle  of 

O  O 

Moodkee,  some  years  ago,  a  priest  was  seen  administering 
the  Romish  sacrament  to  the  dying ;  but  on  a  more  recent 
occasion  in  India  there  was  also  a  Protestant  minister  who 
volunteered  his  aid,  and  became  a  missionary  recruit,  as  it 
were,  in  order  to  minister  to  the  wounded  and  the  dying, 
and  carry  to  them  the  knowledge  of  a  Saviour  able  to 
save  to  the  uttermost ;  and  amid  bullets  that  were  hissing 
past  like  hail,  he  was  calmly  doing  his  Master's  work,  and 
seeking  to  instruct  souls.  Let  it  not  be  said  that  Popery 
alone  can  make  sacrifices :  here  was  a  Protestant  making 
the  greatest  sacrifice.  And  who  will  say  that  many  a  poor 
mother's  son  who  marched  in  that  army,  and  entered  it 
with  a  cold  and  careless  heart,  fearing  neither  God  nor 
man,  but  obedient  to  the  orders  of  his  superior,  was  not 
thus  benefited  ? — who  will  doubt  that  that  faithful  minister 
may  have  been  the  instrument  of  many  a  soul's  leaving  Its 
mangled  body  to  appear  with  a  palm  in  its  hand,  washed 
and  made  white  in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb  ?  War  is  a 
terrible  thing ;  but  yet  its  dark  shadows  are  illuminated 
by  such  traits  as  these. 

But  to  return  to  the  point  under  notice.  I  wish  to 
state  my  conviction  of  the  importance  of  there  being  pious 
men  connected  with  our  armies,  that  there  should  be  chap- 
lains in  our  ships  and  regiments,  so  that  our  defenders 

10* 


114  FORESHADOWS. 

may  not  at  any  time  bo  without  Christian  instruction,  still 
less  at  the  last  moment  of  their  precarious  existence,  be 
without  spiritual  comfort.  For  I  do  believe,  and  I  repeat 
my  belief,  that  there  is  no  man  so  advanced  in  life,  or  so 
near  to  death,  but  that  the  whisper  of  a  Saviour's  sacrifice 
may  be  a  message  to  salvation. 

This  parable,  I  need  not  add,  destroys  all  human  merit. 
It  is  sovereignty  from  first  to  last ;  it  is  grace  from  first  to 
last ;  for  it  is  the  great  law  of  God,  that  the  last  shall  be 
first,  and  the  first  last. 

In  conclusion,  let  us  be  thankful  that  we  are  born  in  a 
land  in  which  the  tidings  of  the  vineyard,  and  of  a  welcome 
into  it,  are  proclaimed,  and  announced  from  so  many  pul- 
pits. Great  is  our  responsibility  !  May  we  have  grace  to 
feel  it  so. 

Have  we  ourselves  entered  into  that  vineyard?  We 
are  doing  much  for  Caesar :  what  are  we  doing  for  Christ  ? 
We  are  doing  much  for  our  own  advantage  in  society : 
what  are  we  doing  for  the  spread  of  that  gospel  whose  in- 
direct reflection  are  all  the  blessings  we  enjoy  as  a  country 
and  as  a  people  ?  What  place  in  our  heart  does  eternity 
occupy  ?  How  often  do  we  think  of  it  ?  Does  it  ever 
occur  to  us,  that  the  best  evidence  of  acceptance  with  God, 
is  what  we  pray  for  when  no  ear  can  hear,  no  eye  can  see, 
and  no  man  can  judge,  but  God  himself?  Do  we  ever,  in 
the  midst  of  our  toils,  lift  up  the  heart  beyond  the  ever- 
lasting hills  ?  Does  the  counting-house  ever  become  con- 
secrated by  the  consoling  thought  that  does  not  pause  in 
its  upward  flight  till  it  has  reached  the  ear  of  God,  and  is 
heard  amid  the  songs  of  the  cherubim  ?  Have  we  entered 
that  vineyard  ?  Are  we  the  people  of  God  ? 

Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God.  Begin  life,  I  say  to  the 
young,  with  religion;  carry  on  life  with  religion;  enter 
upon  every  new  duty,  upon  every  new  sphere,  upon  every 


THE  VINEYARD  LABOURERS.          115 

new  relationship,  with  a  deep  sense  of  responsibility  to 
God,  and  a  deep  conviction  that  the  practice  of  piety  is 
the  experience  of  the  truest  happiness. 

It  is  here  also  important  to  observe  that  every  figure 
used  to  describe  a  Christian,  negatives  the  idea  of  indo- 
lence. Christians  are  labourers ;  they  are  placed  in  a 
vineyard,  in  which  they  are  to  labour.  "  Labour  not  for 
the  meat  which  perisheth."  "Other  men  laboured,  and 
ye  are  entered  into  their  labours."  We  are  "fellow- 
labourers  with  God."  Thus  we  see  that  while  religion  is 
happiness,  it  is  not  indolence.  While  Christians  are  made 
happy,  let  us  not  forget  that  thep  are  called  upon  to  dis- 
charge duties. 

As  we  are  here  represented  as  placed  in  a  vineyard,  and 
as  labourers  in  it,  two  things,  we  must  not  forget,  are  ne- 
cessary to  success :  the  terrestrial  labour,  which  is  ours ; 
and  the  celestial  labour,  which  is  God's,  Take  the  finest 
soil,  and  the  sunniest  side  of  the  hill ;  still  the  vine  will 
not  grow,  grapes  will  not  be  produced,  unless  there  be 
congenial  sunshine,  and  descending  rains  and  dews  from 
heaven ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  should  there  be  sunshine, 
and  dews,  and  rains,  and  a  fertile  soil,  and  every  thing 
required  from  above ;  but  no  weeding,  no  pruning,  no  culti- 
vating, no  clearing — "there  will  be  no  grapes.  God  has  so 
ordered  things,  that  the  means  and  the  blessing  go  to- 
gether ;  and  he  that  does  not  use  the  means,  has  no  right 
to  expect  the  blessing ;  while  he  that  does  use  the  means, 
and  pray  for  the  blessing,  is  sure  to  find  it.  Let  us,  there- 
fore, pray  the  Lord  of  the  vineyard,  that  he  will  send  out 
other  labourers  still  into  the  vineyard.  Let  us  pray,  that 
there  may,  day  by  day,  be  an  abundant  increase  in  the 
earth,  so  that  when  he  comes  again,  he  may  find  its  desert 
places  rejoicing,  and  its  solitary  places  blossoming  as  the 
rose. 


116 


LECTURE  VII. 

THE   FRUIT   OF   FORGIVENESS. 

And  one  of  the  Pharisees  desired  him  that  ho.  would  eat  with  him.  And  he 
went  into  the  Pharisee's  house,  and  sat  down  to  meat.  And,  behold,  a 
woman  in  the  city,  which  was  a  sinner,  when  she  knew  that  Jesus  sat  at 
meat  in  the  Pharisee's  house,  brought  an  alabaster  box  of  ointment,  and 
stood  at  his  feet  behind  him  weeping,  and  began  to  wash  his  feet  with  tears, 
and  did  wipe  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head,  and  kissed  his  feet,  and 
anointed  them  with  the  ointment  Now  when  the  Pharisee  which  had  bidden 
him  saw  it,  he  spake  within  himself  saying,  This  man  if  he  were  a  prophet, 
would  have  known  who  and  what  manner  of  woman  this  is  that  toucheth 
him :  for  she  is  a  sinner.  And  Jesus  answering  said  unto  him,  Simon,  I 
have  somewhat  to  say  unto  thee.  And  he  saith,  Master,  say  on.  There  was 
a  certain  creditor  which  had  two  debtors :  the  one  owed  five  hundred  pence, 
and  the  other  fifty.  And  when  they  had  nothing  to  pay,  he  frankly  forgave 
them  both.  Tell  me,  therefore,  which  of  them  will  love  him  most?  Simon 
answered  and  said,  I  suppose  that  he,  to  whom  he  forgave  most.  And  he 
said  unto  him,  Thou  has  rightly  judged.  And  he  turned  to  the  woman,  and 
said  unto  Simon,  Seest  thou  this  woman  ?  I  entered  into  thine  house,  thou 
gavest  me  no  water  for  my  feet :  but  she  hath  washed  my  feet  with  tears, 
and  wiped  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head.  Thou  gavest  me  no  kiss :  but 
this  woman  since  the  time  I  came  in  hath  not  ceased  to  kiss  my  feet.  My 
head  with  oil  thou  didst  not  anoint :  but  this  woman  hath  anointed  my  feet 
with  ointment  Wherefore  I  say  unto  thee,  Her  sins  which  are  many,  are 
forgiven ;  for  she  loved  much :  but  to  whom  little  is  forgiven,  the  same  loveth 
little.  And  he  «aid  unto  her,  Thy  sins  are  forgiven.  And  they  that  sat  at 
meat  with  him  began  to  say  within  themselves,  Who  is  this  that  forgiveth 
sins  also  ?  And  he  said  to  the  woman,  Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee ;  go  in 
peace. — LUKE  vii.  37-50. 

I  WOULD  read  first  the  narrative  in  another  parable, 
Matthew  xxvi.  6-13  :  "  Now  when  Jesus  was  in  Bethany, 
in  the  house  of  Simon  the  leper,  there  came  unto  him  a 
woman  having  an  alabaster  box  of  very  precious  ointment, 
and  poured  it  on  his  head,  as  he  sat  at  meat.  But  when 


THE   FRUIT   OF   FORGIVENESS.  117 

the  disciples  saw  it,  they  had  indignation,  saying,  To  what 
purpose  is  this  waste  ?  For  this  ointment  might  have 
been  sold  for  much,  and  given  to  the  poor.  When  Jesus 
understood  it,  he  said  unto  them,  Why  trouble  ye  the 
woman  ?  for  she  hath  wrought  a  good  work  upon  me,  for 
ye  have  the  poor  always  with  you ;  but  me  ye  have  not 
always.  For  in  that  she  hath  poured  this  ointment  on 
my  body,  she  did  it  for  my  burial.  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 
Wheresoever  this  gospel  shall  be  preached  in  the  whole 
world,  there  shall  also  this,  that  this  woman  hath  done,  be 
told  for  a  memorial  of  her."  In  John  xii.  1-8,  we  read, 
"Then  Jesus  six  days  before  the  passover  came  to  Bethany, 
where  Lazarus  was  which  had  been  dead,  whom  he  raised 
from  the  dead.  There  they  made  him  a  supper ;  and 
Martha  served:  but  Lazarus  was  one  of  them  that  sat  at 
the  table  with  him.  Then  took  Mary  a  pound  of  ointment 
of  spikenard,  very  costly,  and  anointed  the  feet  of  Jesus, 
and  wiped  his  feet  with  her  hair :  and  the  house  was  filled 
with  the  odour  of  the  ointment.  Then  saith  one  of  his 
disciples,  Judas  Iscariot,  Simon's  son,  which  should  betray 
him,  Why  was  not  this  ointment  sold  for  three  hundred 
pence,  and  given  to  the  poor  ?  This  he  said,  not  that  he 
cared  for  the  poor;  but  because  he  was  a  thief,  and  had 
the  bag,  and  bare  what  was  put  therein.  Then  said  Jesus, 
Let  her  alone ;  against  the  day  of  my  burying  hath  she 
kept  this.  For  the  poor  always  ye  have  with  you ;  but  me 
ye  have  not  always."  These  passages  are  substantially 
alike,  they  relate  to  precisely  the  same  thing. 

How  happens  it  that  a  woman  so  described  found  unob- 
structed access  to  these  hospitalities  ?  It  can  only  be  ex- 
plained by  a  fact  related  in  the  following  extract  from  a 
mission  of  inquiry  to  the  Jews  conducted  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Church  of  Scotland ;  which  is  as  follows : — «  At  dinner 
at  the  consul's  house  at  Damietta,  in  the  room  beside  the 


118  FORESHADOWS. 

divan  in  which  we  sat,  were  seats  all  round  the  room.  Many 
came  in  and  took  their  places  on  the  side  seats  uninvited. 
They  spoke  to  those  at  table  on  the  news  of  the  day,  and 
our  host  spoke  to  them  in  return.  We  were  reminded  of 
the  scene  at  Simon's  house  at  Bethany.  We  afterward 
saw  the  same  custom  at  Jerusalem.  We  were  sitting  round 
Mr.  Nicolayson's  room,  when  first  one  and  then  another 
stranger  came  in  and  took  his  seat  beside  us."  The  wo- 
man recorded  by  Luke  came  plainly,  not  from  curiosity,  or 
from  mere  forwardness  of  disposition,  but  from  a  deep 
sense  and  feeling  of  sin,  and  its  shadow — the  misery  that 
ever  accompanies  it.  She  was  bold,  not  from  the  hardening 
effects  of  sin,  but  from  earnest  anxiety  to  see  the  Saviour, 
and  to  obtain  from  him  the  blessing  that  she  felt  she  truly 
needed  and  he  could  bestow.  The  Pharisee  had  no  idea 
of  Christ  as  the  great  Sin-forgiver,  nor  any  sympathy  with 
the  woman  as  a  forgiveness-seeker.  He  held  it,  in  common 
with  his  sect,  the  very  highest  virtue  to  stand  aloof  from 
all  that  was  ceremonially  unclean.  "Stand  aside;  lam 
holier  than  thou,"  was  the  characteristic  feeling  of  a  Pha- 
risee. This  is  not  the  spirit  of  the  gospel,  nor  the  tone  or 
temper  of  a  Christian.  Deeply  the  sinner  is  to  be  pitied, 
however  sternly  the  sin  in  which  he  indulges  ought  -to  be 
rebuked.  The  sinner  is  far  from  unpunished  upon  earth, 
he  suffers  even  here  for  his  sins ;  he  pays  terrible  penalties 
even  in  this  life.  Pain,  disappointment,  and  remorse  are 
no  light  penalties,  which  he  is  doomed  to  suffer  as  the  effects 
of  his  transgressions.  And  he  gathers  up  for  the  future 
yet  more  terrible  retribution.  He  needs  deeply  to  be  pitied. 
It  is  not  the  cold,  sarcastic  remark,  or  the  bitter  theolo- 
gical rancour,  or  the  ceremonial  and  sectarian  repugnance, 
that  will  do  him  good.  We  must  speak  in  tones  of  human 
pity,  of  deep  yet  holy  sympathy,  and  be  ready  to  point 
out  the  nature  and  the  issues  of  his  transgression. 


THE    FHUIT   OF   FORGIVENESS.  119 

The  remark  was  made,  "  This  man,  if  he  were  a  prophet, 
would  have  known  who  and  what  manner  of  woman  this 
is."  Now,  in  truth,  all  that  Christ  had  done  was  to  receive 
the  expressions  of  her  disinterested  love,  the  just  tribute 
of  one  who  saw  in  herself  the  greatest  of  sinners,  and  in 
Jesus  the  Son  of  God  come  down  to  bless  mankind,  and 
therefore  implored  not  without  hope  the  pardon  she  so 
earnestly  felt  the  need  of.  Her  kiss  was  the  symbol  of  her 
love,  her  bathing  his  feet  with  her  tears  the  proof  of  sor- 
row, her  wiping  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head — her  chief 
ornament  and  beauty — was  the  exponent  of  her  profound 
humility.  The  touch  of  a  Gentile,  or  one  ceremonially 
unclean,  was  pollution  to  the  Pharisee.  Simon's  remark, 
therefore,  indicated  the  genuine  belief  that  the  Messiah 
was  the  great  Prophet,  the  Discerner  of  spirits,  and  the 
Searcher  of  hearts;  just  as  Nathanael,  on  seeing  him,  ex- 
claimed, "Thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  the  King  of  Israel;" 
and  the  woman  of  Samaria,  "  Come,  see  a  man  who  told  me 
all  things.  Is  not  this  the  Christ?" 

The  Saviour  showed  that  he  perfectly  understood  the 
thoughts  of  all,  as  well  as  the  peculiar  workings  of  the 
spirit  in  Simon's  bosom.  The  parable  he  begins  at  verse 
41,  "There  was  a  certain  creditor  which  had  two  debtors: 
the  one  owed  five  hundred  pence,  and  the  other  fifty."  We 
are  not  by  this  to  understand  that  the  greatest  sinner,  if 
forgiven,  is  always  the  greatest  lover  of  the  Saviour.  The 
thought  is  more  subjective  than  objective.  It  is  our  con- 
sciousness of  sin,  not  another's  perception  of  it,  which  is 
followed  by  our  receiving  that  forgiveness  which  creates 
the  warmest  love.  Simon  had  little  sense  of  his  sin,  though 
his  sin  may  have  been  as  great,  and  therefore  little  grati- 
tude for  forgiveness.  This  woman  was  overwhelmed  by  a 
deep  sense  of  sin,  not  greater  sin  than  Simon's,  but  more 


120  FORESHADOWS. 

deeply  felt,  and  therefore  her  gratitude  and  love  were  cor- 
responding to  the  depth  of  her  conviction  of  sin. 

"  Wherefore  I  say  unto  thee,  Her  sins,  which  are  many, 
are  forgiven,  for  she  loved  much."  There  is  a  difficulty 
here.  The  parable  implies  that  love  is  the  fruit  of  for- 
giveness ;  not  that  forgiveness  is  the  fruit  of  love.  He  who 
owed  the  large  debt  was  not  forgiven  because  he  felt  greater 
love  to  the  creditor ;  but  the  sense  of  the  larger  debt,  first 
forgiven,  made  him  feel  in  consequence  the  greater  love. 
Hence  the  next  clause,  "He  to  whom  little  is  forgiven,  the 
same  loveth  little."  Some  think  love  is  here  put  for  faith, 
— the  fruit  for  the  root.  It  is  equivalent  to  the  expression 
in  verse  50,  "Thy  faith  hath  saved  thee."  Others  prefer 
rendering  the  Greek  word  ort,  "because,"  by  "therefore," 
and  so  reading  "therefore  she  loved  much,"  giving  it,  not 
a  causal,  but  a  demonstrative  force.  Others  translate  it, 
"Inasmuch  as  she  has  given  full  proof  of  her  love;  and 
this  love  thus  manifested  is  the  evidence  of  forgiveness." 
Coleridge,  in  his  "Literary  Remains,"  has  the  following 
excellent  remarks  on  a  distinction  very  frequently  over- 
looked :  "  Sin  is  disease.  What  is  the  remedy  ?  Charity 
— charity  in  the  large  apostolic  sense — is  the  healthy  state 
to  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  the  remedy,  not  the  sovereign 
balm  itself,  which  is  faith  in  the  Godhead,  the  manhood, 
the  cross,  the  mediation,  the  perfect  righteousness  of  Jesus, 
together  with  the  rejection  and  abjuration  of  all  righteous- 
ness of  our  own.  The  Romish  scheme  is  preposterous.  It 
puts  the  stream  before  the  fountain.  Faith  is  the  source, 
and  charity  is  the  whole  stream  of  Christian  love.  It  is 
quite  childish  to  talk  of  faith  being  imperfect  without 
charity.  As  wisely  might  you  say  that  a  fire,  however 
bright  and  strong,  is  imperfect  without  heat ;  or  that  the 
sun,  however  cloudless,  is  imperfect  without  beams.  The 


THE   FRUIT   OF   FORGIVENESS.  121 

true  answer  is,  that  such  is  not  faith,  but  utter  and  repro- 
bate faithlessness." 

In  the  whole  of  the  parable,  sins  are  likened  unto  debts. 
God,  the  Sin-forgiver,  is  regarded  as  the  creditor ;  men  as 
debtors,  all  with  different  degrees  of  criminality.  God's 
forgiveness  is  described  in  the  word  "frankly,"  and  the 
fruit  of  that  forgiveness  is  embodied  in  its  effect — love, 
and  that  love  develops  itself  in  obedience.  Sin  is  our 
debt  of  obedience  due  to  God.  Perfect  payment  is  no 
merit,  it  is  only  justice.  But  we  have  utterly  failed  to 
render  such  payment,  and  fail  every  day,  and  are  thus 
liable  to  all  the  pains  and  penalties  of  a  law  that  we  have 
broken.  Sin  is  the  worst  of  all  debt;  it  is  against  the  In- 
finite God.  It  is  therefore  of  infinite  demerit.  David  had 
sinned  against  Uriah  and  Bathsheba ;  but  what  he  felt  to 
be  the  true  significance,  and  reach,  and  result  of  sin,  was 
what  he  expressed  in  these  words,  "Against  thee,  thee  only 
have  I  sinned."  Sin  is  a  debt  that  multiplies  beyond  cal- 
culation. David  counted  his  days,  his  sins  defied  arithmetic. 
One  sin  is  the  seed  of  a  thousand,  and  trespasses  grow  till 
they  overwhelm  us.  Well  then  did  one  say,  "  If  thou,  Lord, 
shouldest  mark  iniquity,  0  Lord,  who  could  stand?" 

Debts  in  this  world  may  be  forgotten;  but  our  debts  to 
God  can  never  be  forgotten,  until  they  have  been  forgiven 
with  plenary  and  irreversible  forgiveness.  To  the  Infinite 
Mind  the  whole  past  is  luminous,  every  thought  and  word 
and  action  visible.  Our  present  immunity  is  not  therefore 
the  effect  of  any  ignorance  in  God.  And,  however  long- 
God's  judgment  may  be  suspended,  it  is  not  because  he  is 
not  cognizant  of  what  we  are,  and  what  we  have  done,  but 
owing  to  other  and  very  different  reasons. 

In  worldly  debts  there  are  special  exemptions,  which  do 
not  exist  in  our  obligations  to  God.  A  creditor,  for  in- 

II.  SER.  11 


122  FORESHADOWS. 

stance,  cannot  arrest  a  peer  of  the  realm ;  but  there  is  no 
such  privilege  at  the  judgment-seat.  Peer  and  peasant  are 
equally  guilty  before  God,  and  each  must  pay  the  penalty, 
and  suffer  the  inexhaustible  issues  of  transgression  of  the 
law  of  God,  or  find  sovereign  remission. 

Debtors  here  may  be  seized;  but  the  body  alone  can  be 
cast  into  prison ;  the  soul  may  be  neither  reached,  nor  fet- 
tered, nor  chained.  But  God  deals  primarily  with  the  soul. 
"Be  not  afraid,"  then,  "of  them  that  kill  the  body,  and 
after  that  have  no  more  that  they  can  do.  But  fear  him, 
which  after  he  hath  killed  hath  power  to  cast  mto  hell." 
It  is  the  soul  that  suffers.  The  one  is  but  temporary  bond- 
age, the  other  is  an  irretrievable  perdition. 

A  debtor  to  man  may  abscond  and  escape,  not  so  a  debtor 
to  God.  "  If  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold,  thou  art  there. 
If  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning,  and  dwell  in  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  sea ;  even  there  shall  thy  hand  lead  me, 
and  thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me."  There  is  no  resistance 
of  omnipotence ;  there  is  no  escape  from  omnipresence. 

It  is  a  symptom  of  conscious  guilt  when  a  debtor  refuses 
to  look  into  his  pecuniary  affairs.  This  is  the  painful  cha- 
racteristic of  a  sinner.  He  flies  from  himself.  He  is  con- 
scious that  there  is  something  wrong  within  him  ;  he  shrinks 
from  the  thought  of  Deity  coming  into  his  mind  ;  he  labours 
to  get  rid  of  all  communion  with  God  above  him,  and  witli 
his  heart  within  him.  It  would  be  intolerable  punishment  to 
have  his  thoughts  concentrated  on  himself  for  a  single  day. 
He  will  neither  eject  nor  look  at  the  lodger  that  is  within 
him.  No  man  will  look  his  sin  fairly  in  the  face  who  is 
not  determined  to  abandon  it,  and  who  does  not  know  of 
some  great  and  blessed  process  by  which  the  past  may  be 
cancelled. 

Nor  does  a  debtor  like  to  be  reminded  of  his  debts.     It 


THE  FRUIT   OF  FORGIVENESS.  123 

is  so  with  sinners.  They  that  are  bent  on  the  practice  of 
sin  will  not  long  listen  to  faithful  preaching.  They  say, 
substantially,  with  Ahab,  "  I  will  not  listen  to  him.  He 
prophesies  evil  concerning  me." 

Still  less  do  debtors  like  to  meet  their  creditors.  This 
is  emphatically  the  case  of  sinners  in  reference  to  God. 
"  Depart  from  us  ;  we  are  sinful  men,"  is  their  language  : 
"no  God,"  is  their  practical  creed.  Like  Adam, the  con- 
sciousness of  sin  makes  them  run  from  God. 

Let  us  rejoice  to  know  that  God,  the  great  Creditor,  for- 
gives freely,  fully,  and  frankly  all  that  come  to  him.  The 
source  and  fountain  of  mercy  is  in  God.  This  love  was 
not  created' by  the  atonement,  but  is  the  cause  out  of  which 
the  atonement  came.  Jesus  is  the  expression  and  the 
channel  of  God's  love,  not  the  creator  of  it.  His  mercy, 
however,  must  reach  us  in  a  way  consistent  Avith  the  justice 
and  the  holiness  of  God.  If  no  sin  were  pardoned,  there 
would  be  no  evidence  of  the  mercy  of  God.  If  all  sin 
were  forgiven  without  an  atonement,  there  would  be  no 
evidence  of  the  holiness  and  justice  of  God.  In  Christ  we 
have  redemption  through  his  blood ;  and  God  is  there  seen 
to  be  faithful  and  just,  while  he  justifies  them  that  believe 
in  Jesus. 

The  very  first  characteristic  of  this  love  is,  that  it  is 
worthy  of  God.  Man  is  irritable,  revengeful,  and  stands 
out  against  forgiving  those  that  have  offended  him,  unable 
to  forget  the  greatness  or  the  aggravation  of  the  sin  :  but 
God  alike  forgives  the  greatest  and  the  least  sins  :  for 
"  my  ways  are  not  your  ways,  neither  are  my  thoughts 
your  thoughts."  "Though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they 
shall  be  as  white  as  snow ;  though  they  be  red  like  crimson, 
they  shall  be  as  wool/'  God's  forgiveness  extends  to  all 
sin :  "  Who  forgiveth  all  thine  iniquities."  "  The  blood  of 


124  FORESHADOWS. 

Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  from  all  sin."  Again, 
"  Having  forgiven  you  all  your  trespasses."  And  so  truly 
is  this  the  characteristic  of  the  forgiveness  of  God,  that 
the  sinner  may  plead  with  the  Psalmist,  "Pardon  my  ini- 
quity ;  for  it  is  great."  Sin  may  rise  to  the  height  of  the 
everlasting  hills,  but  mercy  surmounts  it ;  or  it  may  sink 
to  the  depths  of  the  fathomless  sea,  but  mercy  pursues  and 
overtakes  and  pardons  there. 

This  forgiveness  of  God  is  unchangeable  and  irreversible. 
The  gifts  and  calling  of  God  are  without  repentance.  He 
blots  out  our  sins,  and  lest  they  should  be  seen,  he  covers 
them.  And  to  show  how  completely  he  does  so,  it  is  said, 
"He  casts  them  behind  his  back;"  and,  lest  this  should 
not  be  expressive  enough,  he  is  said  to  fling  them  into  the 
depths  of  the  sea ;  and,  lest  this  should  not  be  expressive 
enough,  he  says,  "  Their  sins  shall  be  sought,  and  shall  not 
be  found." 

And  lastly,  this  mercy  is  free  and  unmerited.  We  can 
neither  merit  it  before  we  receive  it,  nor  pay  for  it  after 
we  have  received  it.  It  is  sovereign,  worthy  of  God,  and 
the  only  mercy  that  can  reach  the  hearts  and  carry  away 
the  guilt  of  his  sinful  family. 

The  fruit  of  this  forgiveness  is  love  in  us.  The  appeal 
is  made  to  the  experience  of  human  nature,  when  it  is 
stated,  "We  love  him,  because  he  first  loved  us."  Love 
to  us  on  the  part  of  God  creates  responsive  love  to  God 
on  our  part.  This  is  just  the  great  process  of  the  gospel, 
on  which  reliance  is  placed  for  reclaiming,  regenerating, 
and  saving  multitudes  of  sinners.  And  when  this  love  is 
fixed  in  the  heart  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  responsive 
to  the  love  that  God  has  manifested  to  us,  it  becomes  the 
life  and  strength  of  all  obedience.  Love  is  the  fulfilling 
of  the  law.  The  law  is  love  in  its  outward  development, 


THE   FRUIT   OF  FORGIVENESS.  125 

and  love  is  the  law  in  its  inward  life  and  principle.  Wher- 
ever, therefore,  the  love  of  God  in  Christ  Jesus  is  preached 
in  its  greatest  fulness,  there  we  may  expect  that  there  will 
be  the  truest  allegiance,  and  the  most  lasting  obedience  to 
God.  The  air  of  the  future  glory  is  the  love  that  results 
from  forgiveness  of  sin.  Love  within  us  is  the  germ  of 
glory.  Our  happiest  moments  are  prefigurations  of  the 
future. 


n» 


126 


LECTURE   VIII. 

CERTAIN    PROGRESS. 

And  again  he  said,  Whercunto  shall  I  liken  the  kingdom  of  God  ?  It  is  like 
leaven,  which  a  woman  took  and  hid  in  three  measures  of  meal,  till  the  whole 
was  leavened. — LUKE  xiii.  20,  21. 

THERE  are  different  aspects  in  which  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  is  set  before  us.  In  one  parable  it  has  a  mixed 
character,  as  a  visible  body  made  up  of  tares  and  wheat, 
bad  and  good  fishes.  In  another  we  are  presented  with 
the  aspect  of  its  outward  development,  as  the  mustard- 
tree.  In  the  present,  its  inward,  penetrating,  and  secret 
action  in  the  world,  under  the  representation  of  leaven,  is 
set  before  us.  The  only  difficulty  in  this  parable  is  the 
use  of  leaven  in  its  figurative  character.  Generally  it  is 
used  in  a  bad  sense,  as  in  1  Cor.  v.  7:  "Purge  out  there- 
fore the  old  leaven,  that  ye  may  be  a  new  lump,  as  ye  are 
unleavened."  The  Israelites  were  to  put  away  all  leaven 
during  the  passover.  It  has  been  interpreted  by  some  in 
an  evil  sense ;  and  under  the  name  of  leaven,  it  is  thought 
by  such  interpreters  that  the  Romish  element  secretly  in- 
fecting the  early  church,  and  spreading  with  pestiferous 
power  till  the  whole  church  was  contaminated  and  cor- 
rupted by  it,  is  the  master  idea  of  this  parable.  Were 
this  interpretation  correct,  it  would  imply  a  universal 
apostasy,  the  utter  extinction  of  the  church  of  Christ,  and 
the  evidence  that  the  gates  of  hell,  contrary  to  the  pro- 
mise of  our  Lord,  had  actually  prevailed  against  it.  Be- 
sides, the  representation  implies  on  the  part  of  our  Lord 


CERTAIN   PROGRESS.  127 

satisfaction,  and  not  sorrow,  at  the  progress  of  the  leaven. 
We  think  there  is  yet  a  satisfactory  solution.  In  the 
Scripture,  and  in  parables,  every  minor  quality  of  the 
symbol  is  not  necessarily  implied :  its  great  and  prominent 
characteristic  is  that  which  is  seized,  and  made  the  elo- 
quent and  expressive  vehicle  of  a  great  truth.  Thus,  the 
mustard-tree  rising  from  a  small  beginning  to  a  great 
size,  is  the  only  feature  that  is  laid  hold  of  in  the  pa- 
rable in  which  it  occurs,  while  the  pungency,  or  acrid 
properties  of  the  mustard  are  entirely  excluded.  The 
lion  is  applied  to  Satan,  and  also  to  Jesus,  but  in  distinc- 
tive senses.  So,  the  leaven  may  be  applied  to  that  which 
is  evil,  and  also  in  its  place  to  that  which  is  good ;  but  in 
its  good  application,  its  penetrative,  assimilating,  and 
spreading  energies  are  alone  regarded,  while  its  souring 
and  disturbing  effects  are  utterly  excluded,  or  superseded. 
The  manifest  scope  and  tendency  of  the  parable  should 
always  guide  us  in  the  interpretation  of  it. 

The  leaven  is  used,  probably,  as  a  symbol  of  missionary 
and  aggressive  action.  Hence,  the  true  church,  called 
"the  Bride,"  and  "the  Lamb's  wife,"  and  "the  woman 
driven  into  the  wilderness,"  never  failed  to  spread  around 
her  some  degree  of  holy  influence.  This  at  least  is  cer- 
tain, it  is  Christians  alone  who  are  the  only  missionaries, 
who  propagate  with  silent,  but  penetrating  force,  the  holy 
influence  of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  It  is  the  saints  alone 
that  are  the  servants  of  God.  It  is  they  who  are  leavened 
themselves  with  the  great  principles  of  life  and  light  and 
truth,  who  go  forth  and  successfully  leaven  othe'rs,  and  will 
not  cease  till  the  whole  earth  shall  be  penetrated  with  the 
sanctifying  and  sweetening  power  of  the  gospel  of  Christ. 
This  is  beautifully  exhibited  in  Psalm  Ixvii. :  "  God  be  mer- 
ciful unto  us,  and  bless  us ;  and  cause  his  face  to  shine 
upon  us.  That  thy  way  may  be  knoAvn  upon  earth,  thy 


128  FORESHADOWS. 

saving  health  among  all  nations."  It  is  implied  in  "  Go 
ye,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature."  It  is  also 
indicated  in  the  metaphors  under  which  Christians  are 
represented : — the  light,  that  gradually  illuminates  ;  the 
salt,  that  silently  spreads  its  savour ;  the  leaven,  that 
silently  penetrates  withf  its  assimilating  influence,  till  all 
is  pervaded  by  it. 

Leaven,  referred  to  in  the  parable,  is  an  element  differ- 
ent from  the  lump  or  the  society  into  which  it  is  introduced. 
Now,  this  is  just  the  nature,  origin,  and  characteristic  ac- 
tion of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  It  is  not  an  earthly  element 
neutralizing  or  dislodging  a  rival,  and  thus  attaining  an 
ultimate  supremacy.  It  is  not  an  influence  created  or 
excited  by  man,  rallying  and  gathering  to  itself  the  last 
surviving  virtues  that  beautify  the  wreck,  and  prevent  the 
utter  ruin  of  the  social  system.  It  is  not  a  mission  from 
the  world,  or  of  it.  It  is  not  machinery  manufactured  by 
philosophy,  or  by  human  genius.  It  is  no  earthly  mo- 
mentum. It  is  a  divine  element  coming  down  from  heaven, 
not  earthly  or  of  the  earth,  and  lodged  in  the  heart  of 
humanity.  It  is  a  virtue  from  the  actual  presence  of  Deity 
coming  directly  down  upon  the  earth,  a  vital,  quickening, 
inextinguishable  element  directed  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  de- 
posited in  the  bosom  of  some,  who  make  it  known  to  others 
who  are  strangers  to  it.  It  begins  in  a  nook,  and  goes 
forth  in  silence  and  secrecy,  assimilating  the  earth  to 
heaven,  and  men  to  God,  and  out  of  great  nations  educing 
the  churches  of  Christ. 

This  leaven  once  introduced,  we  perceive  from  the  para- 
ble, must  make  progress.  It  absorbs  alien  elements  into 
its  own — transmuting  all  it  touches  into  the  likeness  of  the 
source  from  which  it  came.  It  attracts  to  itself  whatever 
is  foreign  to  it,  and  makes  it  what  God  has  designed  it  to 
be.  Thus  Christianity  has  made  progress  in  every  land. 


CERTAIN   PROGRESS.  129 

Grace  planted  in  the  core  of  the  individual  heart,  has  ra- 
diated and  spread,  leavening  families,  then  villages,  then 
towns,  then  cities,  then  the  greatest  empire,  till  Borne,  in 
the  history  of  the  past,  awoke  and  with  astonishment  dis- 
covered that  the  majority  of  its  people  was  Christian. 
Differences  of  class,  custom,  language,  have  no  observable 
influence  upon  it,  nor  do  theypresent  any  obstruction  to 
its  spread.  It  leavened  the  philosophic  Greek,  the  warlike 
Roman,  the  bigoted  Jew,  the  wandering  Arab,  the  pliant 
Persian,  the  superstitious  Hindoo.  No  peculiarity  of  caste, 
or  tribe,  or  climate  arrested  its  progress.  It  created  Chris- 
tians wherever  it  came,  and  it  shot  forth  in  all  the  beauti- 
ful crystallization  of  Christian  character  wherever  its 
power  was  allowed  to  penetrate.  Temples  have  risen 
amid  Greenland  snows  and  Russian  winters,  amid  burning 
sands  and  under  Indian  suns.  Its  influence  has  spanned 
gulfs  and  firths,  climbed  the  Alps,  Apennines,  and  Hima- 
layas ;  crossed  broad  seas,  and  traversed  bleak  deserts, 
and  left  its  trophies  everywhere.  It  seized  and  trans- 
formed and  leavened  humanity  wherever  it  came.  Great 
intellects  bowed  before  the  truth,  and  humble  minds  felt 
elevated  by  it.  Prejudices  fled,  like  morning  mists,  at  its 
approach,  and  fierce  passions  were  laid  like  waves  after  the 
storm,  and  idol  shrines  and  temples  were  transmuted  into 
the  churches  of  Christ.  But  this  Christian  element  is  not 
only  fitted  to  leaven  all  classes  and  climes,  but  also  every 
power  and  faculty  and  affection  in  the  individual  bosom. 
It  touches  every  organ  of  the  inner  man,  penetrates  every 
recess  of  the  human  breast,  illuminates  the  mind  with  hea- 
venly light,  inspires  the  heart  with  divine  grace,  kindling 
divine  sympathies,  and  extending  outward  throughout  the 
whole  man,  till  his  estate,  his  time,  his  influence,  and  all 
he  has,  and  all  he  is,  are  baptized  with  a  celestial  baptism, 
and  consecrated  to  the  service  and  glory  of  Him  who  re- 


130  FORESHADOWS. 

deemed  him  by  his  blood,  and  has  made  him  a  king  and  a 
priest  unto  his  Father. 

We  see,  next,  the  remarkable  silence  of  its  operation, 
which  is  thus  a  contrast  to  the  operation  of  other  elements. 
The  religion  of  Mohammed  was  spread  by  the  scimiter,  sus- 
tained by  armies,  accompanied  by  conquest,  and  in  every 
instance  the  creation  of  compulsion :  it  was  an  influence 
from  without  shaping  society,  as  the  axe  does  the  tree,  into 
the  form  selected  by  its  owner.  Romanism  is  scarcely 
less  so.  Fraud,  and  force,  and  lying  wonders,  and  empty 
pomp,  and  meretricious  splendour,  secure  an  outward  uni- 
formity, marshalling  millions  in  ceremonial  unity  and 
order,  but  all  ever  ready  to  fall  asunder  on  the  withdrawal 
of  the  compressive  power,  or  the  destruction  of  the  coer- 
cive bond,  before  which  they  bow.  But  in  this  case  it  is 
far  otherwise ;  the  action  begins  in  the  individual  heart, 
and  secretly,  silently,  but  powerfully,  and  without  force, 
or  fraud,  or  noise,  it  spreads,  till  the  whole  nature  is  pene- 
trated by  its  influence,  and  assimilated  to  a  new  character. 
It  is  silent  as  the  dew  of  heaven,  but  as  saturating  also. 
Like  a  sweet  stream,  it  runs  along  many  a  mile  in  silent 
beauty.  You  may  trace  its  course,  not  by  roaring  cata- 
racts, and  rolling  boulders,  and  rent  rocks,  but  by  the  belt 
of  verdure,  greenness,  and  fertility,  that  extends  along 
its  margin.  The  fact  is,  all  great  forces  are  silent ; 
strength  is  quiet :  all  great  things  are  still :  high  brows 
are  calm.  It  is  the  vulgar  idea,  that  thunder  and  light- 
ning are  the  mightiest  forces,  because  they  are  the  most 
audible.  Gravitation,  which  is  unseen  and  unheard,  binds 
suns  and  stars  into  harmony,  and  puts  forth  a  force  vastly 
greater  than  that  of  the  lightning.  The  light,  which 
comes  so  silently  that  it  does  not  injure  an  infant's  eye, 
makes  the  whole  earth  burst  into  buds  and  blossoms,  and 
yet  it  is  not  heard.  Thus,  love  and  truth,  the  component 


CERTAIN   PROGRESS.  LSI 

elements  of  the  gospel  leaven,  are  silent,  but  mighty  in 
their  action,  mightier  far  than  hate  and  persecution,  and 
bribes  and  falsehoods,  and  sword  and  musket.  Souls  are 
•won,  not  by  might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts. 

This  leaven  is  described  as  hidden.  Such  was  the  con- 
dition of  Jesus,  the  Son  of  God.  He  had  no  form  nor 
comeliness ;  he  was  despised  and  rejected  of  men ;  but  in 
the  end  he  shall  divide  the  spoil  with  the  strong.  So  it 
is  with  ourselves.  Our  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God. 
Men  do  not  see  the  action  of  this  holy  leaven ;  they  only 
feel  the  effects  of  it.  "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth, 
and  thou  nearest  the  sound  thereof,  but  canst  not  tell 
whence  it  cometh,  and  whither  it  goeth ;  so  is  every  one 
that  is  born  of  the  Spirit."  Worldly  schemes  and  plans 
are  carried  on  by  the  sound  of  the  hammer  and  the  axe, 
amid  smoke  and  noise  ;  but  here,  as  in  the  building  of  the 
ancient  temple,  there  is  heard  no  sound  of  axe  or  hammer. 
This  revolution,  achieved  by  the  Christian  leaven,  is  not 
the  result  of  commotion ;  it  is  rather  like  a  seed  quicken- 
ing in  the  heart  in  secret  and  in  silence,  and  developing 
itself  ultimately  in  the  peace,  and  joy,  and  righteousness 
of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

Another  peculiarity  of  this  holy  leaven  is,  that  it  is  a 
central  influence  working  outward  to  the  circumference. 
In  this  respect  it  is  a  perfect  contrast  to  all  the  prescrip- 
tions of  the  age.  It  is  not  a  scheme  for  manufacturing, 
spinning,  or  weaving  happiness,  such  as  most  national  revo- 
lutions and  reforms  are,  but  a  principle  divinely  implanted, 
silently  penetrating  outward,  and  shaping  every  thing  to 
itself.  Man's  schemes  act  from  without ;  God's  religion  from 
within.  Human  schemes  rely  on  a  revolution  in  the  state ; 
Christianity  on  a  revolution  in  the  heart.  The  first  begin 
at  the  circumference,  and  try  to  work  inward  toward  the 


132  FORESHADOWS. 

centre.  The  second  begins  at  the  centre,  and  works  out- 
ward to  the  circumference.  All  human  schemes  propose 
to  give  us  what  we  have  not ;  the  divine  scheme  seeks  to 
make  us  what  we  are  not.  Man's  proposition  is  to  alter 
the  climate ;  it  is  God's  to  change  the  heart.  The  king- 
dom of  God  is  not  "meat  and  drink" — something  from 
without ;  but  "  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy,"  planted 
within,  and  developing  itself  ultimately  without.  It  is 
the  good  tree  yielding  the  good  fruit ;  the  pure  spring 
sending  up  a  pure  stream.  In  this  very  characteristic  is 
the  secret  of  the  unheard,  but  not  unfelt,  influence  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  The  force  that  spreads  it  is  not  so  much 
eloquence  on  the  tongue,  as  Christianity  in  the  heart.  It 
depends,  not  so  much  on  beautiful  speeches,  as  on  visible 
love,  and  audible  holiness.  The  beating  of  the  heart  heard 
in  the  expression  of  the  lip  is  powerful.  In  short,  the 
most  effective  way  to  do  good  is  to  be  good.  If  God  be 
loved  in  the  heart,  it  will  surely  show  itself  in  the  life. 
It  was  so  pre-eminently  with  Jesus.  It  was  not  his 
miracles,  nor  his  words,  nor  his  doctrines,  that  so  struck 
the  multitude ;  but  Christ  himself.  It  was  the  grandeur 
of  his  personal  character — humanity  visibly  the  organ  of 
Deity — the  undoubted  image  of  the  living  God,  that  awed 
and  subdued.  This  fact  was  power.  Never  man  spake, 
or  did,  or  lived,  or  died  like  this  man,  because  never  man 
was  as  this  man.  Thus,  be  Christians,  and  you  cannot 
help  being  missionaries.  Be  luminous,  and  you  cannot  but 
shine.  If  you  have  leaven  within,  you  will  be  sure  in 
light  and  love  to  leaven  all  that  is  around  you.  It  is  not 
our  voluntary  and  designed  efforts,  but  our  involuntary 
and  unconscious  influence,  that  operates  most  effectually. 
It  is  what  we  are,  not  what  we  arrange,  digest,  and  plan, 
that  goes  forth  armed  with  the  greatest  power.  Benevolence 
within  is  sure  to  write  itself  in  beneficence  without.  The 


CERTAIN   PROGRESS.  133 

heart  of  Christian  love  will  ever  be  followed  by  the  hand 
of  Christian  goodness.  It  is  the  holy  leaven  of  heavenly 
love  within  the  man  that  breaks  through  every  mask,  and 
beats  dawn  every  obstruction,  and  penetrates  every  refuge, 
and  portrays  itself  legibly  without.  It  is  noticed,  though 
it  does  not  proclaim  itself,  and  felt  by  the  rest  of  man- 
kind, and  it  strikes  a  permanent  and  contagious  influence 
upon  families,  on  villages,  on  towns,  on  the  wide  world. 
A  city  congregation  of  real  Christians  is  the  noblest  city 
mission :  all  else  is  a  mere  substitute  for  ourselves,  or  a 
supply  for  our  own  defects. 

This  leaven  penetrated  till  the  whole  mass  was  leavened. 
This  does  not  imply  that  every  man  born  on  the  earth  will 
be  leavened  by  the  gospel,  and  thus  that  all  will  be  Chris- 
tians and  ultimately  saved.  Our  present  experience  is 
against  this.  Half  of  a  generation  is  leavened,  and  the 
other  half  is  not :  this  is  our  present  experience :  it  is  his- 
torical and  actual  fact.  But  a  time  does  come,  when  the 
whole  living  generation  existing  on  the  earth  shall  emerge 
from  its  corruption,  and  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  of 
the  sun,  incense  and  a  pure  offering  shall  be  made  to  God, 
and  the  whole  earth  shall  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  and 
the  glory  of  God,  and  the  number  of  God's  people  shall 
be  complete,  and  the  sons  of  God  shall  be  manifested,  and 
the  groans  of  earth  shall  cease,  and  there  shall  be  one 
Lord,  and  his  name  one. 

If  we  have  within  us  the  leaven  of  the  gospel  ourselves, 
— and  it  is  not  so  difficult  to  determine  whether  we  have 
it,  or  are  absolute  strangers  to  it, — we  shall  seek,  as  I 
have  said,  to  spread  a  sacred  influence  upon  all  around  us. 
No  force  of  evil,  no  momentary  failure  or  resistance,  will 
'  discourage  us.  There  may  be  want  of  success  for  a  season, 
there  may  be  increasing  unbelief  and  accumulating  evil;  yet 
our  duty  remains,  and  our  delight  to  discharge  it  will  be  un- 

II.  SER.  12 


134  FORESHADOWS. 

impaired.  As  to  the  subduing  influence  of  this  holy  leaven, 
centuries  crowd  around  us  to  bear  witness  of  the  past,  and 
prove  that  wretchedness  and  haggard  misery  and  sin  have 
fled  before  the  influence  of  the  leaven  planted  by  the  Spirit 
of  God  in  the  hearts  of  the  few.  Let  us  labour  especially  to 
leaven  the  young.  Let  us  pray  that  this  leaven  may  be 
hidden  in  the  hearts  of  the  teachers  of  our  schools,  and 
that  the  Spirit  of  God  may  hide  it  in  every  child's  heart. 
The  children  of  to-day  are  the  good  seed  of  the  future 
ages,  that  will  grow  up  into  glorious  harvests,  or  the  trains 
of  gunpowder  lodged  in  subterranean  mines,  that  will 
explode  and  devastate  the  earth.  To  train  up  a  child  in 
the  way  he  should  go,  is  the  highest  and  most  instant  of 
all  duties ;  and  he  cannot  have  felt  the  leavening  influence 
of  the  gospel  in  his  heart,  who  feels  careless  or  indifferent 
to  so  momentous  a  duty. 

Thus  ultimate  success  in  the  coming  future  is  the  pre- 
figuration  of  the  parable.  Our  labour  is  not  in  vain  ;  we 
have  the  earnest  of  success  within  us,  and  the  certainty  of 
a  glorious  future  before  us. 


135 


LECTURE    IX. 

THE    FUTURE    SEPARATION. 

Another  parable  put  ho  forth  unto  them,  saying,  The  kingdom  of  heaven  js 
likened  unto  a  man  which  sowed  good  seed  in  his  field :  but  while  men  slept, 
his  enemy  came  and  sowed  tares  among  the  wheat,  and  went  his  way.  But 
when  the  blade  was  sprung  up,  and  brought  forth  fruit,  then  appeared  the  tares 
also.  So  the  servants  of  the  householder  came  and  said  unto  him,  Sir,  didst 
not  thou  sow  good  seed  in  thy  field  ?  from  whence  then  hath  it  tares  ?  He  said 
unto  them,  An  enemy  hath  done  this.  The  servants  said  unto  him,  Wilt  thou 
then  that  we  go  and  gather  them  up  ?  But  he  said,  Nay ;  lest  while  ye  gather 
up  the  tares,  ye  root  up  also  the  wheat  with  them.  Let  both  grow  together 
until  the  harvest :  and  in  the  time  of  harvest  I  will  say  to  the  reapers,  Gather 
ye  together  first  the  tares,  and  bind  them  in  bundles  to  burn  them  :  but  gather 

the  wheat  into  my  barn Then  Jesus  sent  the  multitude  away,  and 

went  into  the  house :  and  his  disciples  came  unto  him,  saying,  Declare  unto 
us  the  parable  of  the  tares  of  the  field.  He  answered  and  said  unto  them, 
He  that  soweth  the  good  seed  is  the  Son  of  man  ;  the  field  is  the  world ;  the 
good  seed  are  the  children  of  the  kingdom ;  but  the  tares  are  the  children  of 
the  wicked  one ;  the  enemy  that  sowed  them  is  the  devil ;  the  harvest  is  the 
end  of  the  world ;  and  the  reapers  are  the  angels.  As  therefore  the  tares 
are  gathered  and  burned  in  the  fire;  so  shall  it  be  in  the  end  of  this  world. 
The  Son  of  man  shall  send  forth  his  angels,  and  they  shall  gather  out  of 
his  kingdom  all  things  that  offend,  and  them  which  do  iniquity;  and  shall 
cast  them  into  a  furnace  of  fire ;  there  shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of 
teeth.  Then  shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  as  the  sun  in  the  kingdom  of 
their  Father.  Who  hath  ears  to  hear,  let  him  hear. — MATT.  xm.  24-30, 
and  36-43. 

"  THE  Son  of  man,"  is  the  lowly  and  beautiful  epithet 
which  Jesus  appropriates  for  himself.  He  is  indeed  the 
only  perfect  Man,  the  realization  of  the  original  idea  of  man- 
hood, the  only  spotless,  beautiful, and  perfect  flower  that  the 
soul  of  humanity  ever  developed.  But,  while  he  was  the  Son 
of  man,  and  thus  the  perfect  Man,  he  was  no  less  truly 
the  Son  of  God.  The  one  was  witnessed  in  his  tears,  and 


136  FORESHADOWS. 

sorrows,  and  sufferings,  and  death.  The  other  was  mani- 
fested by  his  miracles,  his  words,  his  attributes,  his  victo- 
ries, his  ascension. 

The  seed  here  are  not  truths  in  their  separate  form,  but 
truths  incorporated  and  embodied  in  living  and  respon- 
sible men, — the  seed  in  its  development, — in  short,  living 
principle  in  beautiful  and  consistent  practice.  Thus  Jere- 
miah speaks  of  sowing  with  men  as  with  seed.  So,  in 
IJosea  ii.  23,  "I  will  sow  her."  Likewise,  in  Zechariah 
x.  9,  "  I  will  sow  them  among  the  people."  The  seed 
does  not  remain  after  the  tree  has  grown  ;  it  becomes  the 
stem,  and  unfolds  its  power  and  properties  in  the  living 
branches. 

This  seed  was  sown  by  the  Son  of  man  in  his  "field." 
This  field  is  not  the  world,  but  plainly  the  visible  church. 
It  was  the  world  before  the  seed  was  sown, — the  outfield  in 
which  no  preparatory  process  had  been  begun ;  but,  on  being 
ploughed,  and  cultivated,  and  hedged  in,  and  sown,  that 
part  of  the  world  became  the  separated  district,  the  se- 
questered and  consecrated  place — in  short,  what  we  call 
the  visible  church.  This  is  plain  from  the  very  nature  of 
the  description  contained  in  the  parable  ;  for  it  is  nothing 
new  to  discover  that  good  and  bad  are  in  the  world,  nor 
the  possibility  of  a  desire  to  root  out  the  bad  and  separate 
them  from  the  good  at  all  inconceivable  to  any  who  have 
watched  the  world's  plans  of  self-regeneration ;  but  it  is 
a  new  and  striking  announcement,  and  to  some  an  incre- 
dible one,  that  in  the  visible  church  there  should  be  a 
mixed  multitude, — tares  and  wheat ;  that  the  weeds  of 
earth  should  mingle  with  the  flowers  of  paradise,  and  the 
poisonous  plants  of  the  Fall  with  the  fragrant  and  beau- 
tiful productions  of  the  kingdom  of  grace. 

The  enemy  that  sowed  the  tares  is  said  to  be  "the 
devil."  Satan,  in  this  as  in  other  things,  always  imitates 


THE   FUTURE   SEPARATION.  137 

,  - 

and  counterworks  the  mission  of  Christ.  Wherever  there 
is  any  clear  manifestation  of  Christ,  there  Satan  inva- 
riably sets  up  a  corresponding  imitation  and  mimicry.  He 
imitated  the  miracles  of  Moses  in  rapid  succession ;  and 
he  raised  up  lying  prophets,  the  mimics  of  the  true,  ever 
as  the  former  appeared ;  he  imitated  the  incarnation  by 
demoniacal  possessions.  He  is  most  successful,  not  as  an 
undisguised  enemy,  but  as  a  pretended  friend,  or  when 

he  combines  the  voice  of  Jacob  with  the  hands  of  Esau, 

% » 

the  brass  of  Csesar  with  the  superscription  of  Christ, 
sowing  the  evil  where  the  good  has  been  previously  sown ; 
confounding  light  and  darkness,  good  and  evil;  busiest 
where  Christ  is,  and  concentrating  his  greatest  efforts  to 
corrupt  just  where  there  is  witnessed  the  greatest  proof  of 
the  presence  and  the  blessing  of  God.  Satan  is  exhibited 
in  this  parable  as  a  person.  He  is  not,  as  the  skeptic 
alleges,  a  mere  metaphor ;  the  parable  itself  is  the  meta- 
phor, the  explanation  of  it  here  given  is  strictly  and  his- 
torically literal.  Every  thing  predicated  of  him  evidences 
personality.  He  entered  into  Judas:  he  filled  the  heart 
of  Ananias  ;  he  is  the  god  of  this  world,  blinding  the 
eyes  of  them  that  believe  not;  he  is  "the  spirit  that 
worketh  in  the  children  of  disobedience."  All  these  ex- 
pressions denote  an  active  and  aggressive  person;  they 
cannot  be  predicated  of  a  mere  influence.  In  the  Apoca- 
lypse, there  is  a  full  description  of  the  awful  part  that 
Satan  plays  in  counterworking  the  gospel,  and  in  the 
winding  up  of  this  world's  great  and  stirring  drama. 

He  sowed  "  tares"  in  the  field.  The  tare  is  not  a  plant 
totally  different  from  the  wheat,  and  so  easily  distinguish- 
able from  it,  but  a  sort  of  degenerated  wheat — in  short,  a 
bastard  and  spurious  wheat.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
uncultivated  vine  brings  forth  inferior  grapes ;  and  the 
best  and  purest  wheat  is  spoken  of  as  degenerating  into  a 

12* 


138  FORESHADOWS. 

sort  of  inferior  wheat,  called  "tares."  The  wheat  and 
tares  were,  then,  essentially  the  same.  Thus,  the  sinner 
is  not  a  being  different  from  the  saint :  both  were  originally 
pure  in  Adam;  but  in  one  there  is  the  taint  of  sin,  in  the 
other  there  is  the  effect  of  grace.  God  remakes  the  one ; 
Satan  and  sin  marred  and  made  the  other.  Satan  does 
not  create  the  children  of  darkness  a  new  race ;  he  wastes, 
and  stains,  and  defaces  merely  what  God  originally  made 
pure.  The  worst  of  men  may  be  converted  :  Satan  never 
can  be.  There  is  no  depth  in  the  deepest  degradation  to 
which  man  can  fall,  out  of  which  he  may  not  be  extricated. 
The  tare,  so  long  as  it  is  so,  is  the  planting  of  the  wicked 
one.  "I  never  knew  you,"  is  the  language  of  Jesus  ad- 
dressed to  those  who  are  represented  here  by  the  tares. 
The  wheat  is  the  sowing  of  God. 

The  time  in  which  the  tares  were  sown,  was  the  night- 
time, while  men  slept.  This  perhaps  denotes  that  during 
the  apathy  and  indolence  of  the  rulers  of  the  church, 
Satan  has  sown  or  scattered  wicked  ones  in  the  midst  of 
it.  2  Peter  ii.  1 :  "  But  there  were  false  prophets  also 
among  the  people,  even  as  there  shall  be  false  teachers 
among  you,  who  privily  shall  bring  in  damnable  heresies, 
even  denying  the  Lord  that  bought  them,  and  bring  upon 
themselves  swift  destruction."  Or  it  may  denote  no  cen- 
sure upon  any,  but  that  during  the  necessary  sleep  that 
all  must  have,  Satan  seized  the  opportunity,  and  sowed 
broadcast  the  seed  of  a  crop  of  tares.  His  deeds  are  evil, 
and  the  darkness  is  their  congenial  element.  We  often 
meet  with  this  question :  If  transubstantiation  or  purga- 
tory be  an  error,  show  when  and  where  the  error  was 
introduced.  If  you  cannot  show  when  and  where,  then 
you  must  accept  those  dogmas  as  true.  This  is  false 
reasoning.  It  is  not  a  question  of  chronology,  but  a 
question  of  truth.  Those  tares — transubstantiation  and 


THE   FUTURE   SEPARATION.  139 

purgatory — Avere  sown  in  the  midnight  of  the  medieval 
ages ;  and  we  reject  them,  just  because  they  indicate,  in 
their  full  development,  that  they -are  no  part  of  and  con- 
trary to  the  good  wheat  originally  sown  in  the  field. 

He  then  went  his  way.  After  he  had  sown  the  tares, 
no  subsequent  or  superintending  care  was  required.  The 
unsanctified  human  heart  is  the  congenial  soil  for  them. 
Graces  are  not  natural  to  it ;  but  sin  and  error  are  in- 
digenous plants  :  they  luxuriate  if  left  alone,  till  they  multi- 
ply into  a  far-stretching,  portentous,  and  antichristian 
apostasy.  Satan  knew  the  soil,  and  how  rapidly  the  seeds 
of  evil  would  grow,  if  only  placed  in  it.  Errors  are  like 
weeds.  Left  alone  they  grow.  The  difficulty  is  to  prevent 
their  growth.  The  difference  between  the  tares  and  wheat 
appeared  only  in  their  maturity.  The  likeness  was  so 
entire  during  the  early  progress,  that  there  was  no  marked 
distinction.  Our  eyes  are  not  able  justly  to  discriminate. 
The  wicked  do  wonderful  works.  They  can  array  them- 
selves in  the  likeness  of  Christ.  The  harvest,  however, 
tests  the  plant,  and  reveals  its  real  genus.  The  portrait 
is  often  more  beautiful  than  the  original.  The  tare  at  its 
first  shooting  appeared  greener,  and  probably  more  vigor- 
ous, than  the  wheat ;  and  perhaps  an  unaccustomed  eye 
would  say  that  the  tares  were  the  most  precious  and  pro- 
mising of  the  two.  In  every  congregation  there  may  be 
more  Christians  than  many  allow,  and  fewer  than  latitudi- 
narians  believe.  We  are  not  now  the  reapers,  but  the 
seedsmen  of  Christ.  It  is  not  for  us  to  predict  with 
infallible  precision,  or  to  separate  with  truthful  accuracy, 
which  we  cannot ;  but  to  sow  the  seed,  and  to  pray  for  the 
sunbeams  and  the  rain  to  warm  and  to  water  it.  There  is 
less  hazard  in  forbearance,  than  in  attempting  to  separate. 

In  verse  27,  it  is  asked,  «  Didst  not  thou  sow  good  seed 
in  the  field?  from  whence  then  hath  it*tares ?"  Lord,  we 


140  FORESHADOWS. 

have  read  the  glowing  portrait  of  thy  church,  as  if  it  were 
said,  "the  Bride,"  "the  Lamb's  wife,"  "the  living 
stones,"  "the  fruitful  trees,"  "the  glorious  church,  not 
having  spot."  What  means,  then,  this  awful  and  repres- 
sive mixture  ?  these  poisonous  plants  in  the  midst  of  it  ? 
So  we  naturally  exclaim  as  we  read  the  church's  history. 
The  clear  stream  that  flowed  out  of  the  rock,  has  become 
contaminated  with  polluting  water ;  the  truth  has  been 
mixed  with  alien  falsehood,  the  gold  with  alloy,  till  the 
fine  gold  has  become  dim,  and  the  most  fine  gold  is  alto- 
gether changed.  The  answer  to  this  perplexity  is,  "An 
enemy  hath  done  this."  It  is  not  the  decree  of  God  that 
doomed  the  one  while  he  accepted  the  other.  It  is  not 
that  cold  sunbeams,  or  that  little  rains,  or  that  partial  care 
have  been  bestowed  on  one  and  not  on  the  other,  nor  is  it 
the  imperfection  incident  to  all ;  it  is  an  enemy  that  hath 
done  it.  Evil  is  an  interpolation  from  below ;  good  and 
benediction,  from  above.  We  are  not  to  blame  Chris- 
tianity for  the  tares,  but  to  give  it  only  the  glory  of  the 
wheat.  It  is  no  more  fair  to  blame  our  religion  for 
hypocrisy,  than  it  is  to  blame  patriotism  for  traitors,  or 
the  mint  for  forgers.  Sin  is  the  trail  of  the  serpent. 
There  is  no  explaining  away  the  responsibility  of  man,  nor 
the  existence  and  activity  of  Satan.  The  enemy  of  God 
and  man  does  all  the  evil :  God  is  the  Author  of  all  that 
is  pure  and  holy,  benevolent  and  good. 

"Wilt  thou  that  we  go  and  gather  up  the  tares  ?"  one 
asks  in  the  parable.  This  is  the  expression  of  sincere, 
but  ignorant  zeal.  Yet  it  has  occurred  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  as  it  occurred  in  the  first  century.  Many  would 
try  to  strike  out  a  perfect  church  on  earth.  There  is  no 
such  thing  as  a  free  and  perfect  communion  upon  earth ; 
and  where  the  greatest  efforts  have  been  made  to  produce 
it,  if  sincere  and  pure,  they  have  ended  in  failure ;  if  sin- 


THE   FUTURE   SEPARATION.  141 

ful  and  sectarian,  they  have  been  developed  in  sin  and 
confusion.  Either  in  attempts  to  root  up  tares  we  have 
brought  up  and  injured  wheat,  that  is,  we  have  excluded 
from  the  means  of  grace  a  sinner  that  might  have  been 
converted ;  or,  in  the  rashness  of  a  burning  zeal,  we  have 
torn  up  the  wheat  instead  of  or  along  with  the  tares.  In 
what  awful  opposition  to  the  requirement  and  the  express 
will  of  our  Redeemer,  is  the  Romish  Church !  She  has 
quoted  this  very  passage  as  sanctioning  the  extermination 
of  heretics,  if  there  be  in  the  execution  of  her  decrees  no 
chance  of  injuring  the  faithful;  but  the  result  in  her 
history  has  been,  that  she  has  parted  in  her  persecution 
with  the  only  wheat,  and  preserved  only  the  tares.  The 
fact  is,  that  the  advocate  of  truth  has  no  commission  to 
exterminate  the  victim  of  error.  In  a  Christian  it  is  a 
sinful  act  to  persecute,  and  in  another  it  is  an  impolitic 
one.  Besides,  in  either  case,  we  have  no  authority  or 
commission  to  warrant  us  to  make  a  separation,  where 
none  is  to  be  made  in  this  dispensation.  This,  however, 
does  not  imply  the  condemnation  of  Christian  and  scrip- 
tural ecclesiastical  discipline.  Such  discipline  is  most 
valuable.  The  admonition  of  the  sinful,  the  excision  from 
the  visible  church  of  the  flagrantly  wicked  and  profane,  is 
a  sacred  obligation,  alike  dutiful  to  Christ  and  salutary  to 
all.  But  yet  it  is  safer  to  trust  more  to  the  faithful  and 
discriminating  preaching  of  the  truth,  than  to  ecclesiastical 
censures,  while  it  is  unwise  to  have  recourse  to  or  to  trust 
in  political  proscription.  "Let  both  grow  together  till 
the  harvest,"  is  the  true,  and  therefore  the  charitable  pre- 
scription. Sinners  and  saints,  antichristians  and  Chris- 
tians, will  grow  together  intermingling  till  the  very  end. 
We  cannot  help  it.  I  believe  that  the  pure  and  the  holy 
on  the  one  side,  constituting  the  people  of  God,  and  the 
tares,  or  unholy  and  the  unbelieving,  on  the  other  side, 


142  FORESHADOWS. 

constituting  the  people  of  antichrist,  will  develop  their 
respective  characteristics  in  more  portentous  magnitude  as 
the  end  draws  near ;  but  separated  in  this  dispensation 
they  will  not  be.  All  principles,  good  and  evil,  are  grow- 
ing in  earnestness  of  feeling,  and  becoming  charged  with 
greater  power  and  intensity;  so  that  when  Christ  cornes, 
there  will  be  found  only  two  classes — one  intensely  evil, 
the  other  intensely  and  truly  Christian.  This  implies  that 
the  world  is  not  to  be  gradually  converted  by  the  existing 
means  of  grace.  The  visible  church  we  see  will  be  a 
mixture  of  tares  and  wheat  till  the  end.  These  will  grow 
together  till  the  o-Satv  6  /j.&J.a>»  arrive.  Christ  will  come  to 
a  world,  not  holy  and  beautiful  and  pure,  but  to  a  world  in 
which  the  tares  and  wheat  will  be  growing  together,  co- 
existent but  strongly  marked.  This  does  not  prove  that 
we  are  to  lay  aside  means  for  the  conversion  of  all  that 
are  near  us ;  but  it  presents  us  a  foreshadow  of  the  future 
most  fitted  to  present  our  being  discouraged  in  the 
arduous  and  often  unpromising  work  committed  to  our 
hands. 

He  will  send  his  angels  to  do  it.  So  unsuitable  to  us  is 
this  work  of  separating  now,  that  we  shall  not  be  allowed 
to  make  the  separation  at  the  end.  It  does  not  become 
us.  Ours  is  a  more  merciful  function.  Angels  are  the 
reapers.  "  The  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his 
Father  with  his  holy  angels."  "The  Lord  Jesus  shall  be 
revealed  from  heaven  with  his  mighty  angels,  in  flaming 
fire,  taking  vengeance  on  them  that  know  not  God." 
"  The  Lord  himself  shall  descend  from  heaven  with  a  shout, 
with  the  voice  of  the  archangel,  and  with  the  trump  of 
God."  The  destruction  of  the  unbelieving  and  the  uncon- 
verted will  first  occur.  This  is  clearly  indicated  in  2  Peter 
iii.  3. 10:  "Knowing  this  first,  that  there  shall  come  in  the 
last  days  scoffers  walking  after  their  own  lusts,  and  say- 


THE   FUTURE   SEPARATION.  143 

ing,  Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?  for  since  the 
fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things  continue  as  they  were  from 
the  beginning  of  the  creation.  .  .  .  But  the  day  of  the  Lord 
will  come  as  a  thief  in  the  night ;  in  the  which  the  heavens 
shall  pass  away  with  a  great  noise,  and  the  elements  shall 
melt  with  fervent  heat,  the  earth  also  and  the  works  that 
are  therein  shall  be  burned  up."  So  in  2  Thessalonians  ii., 
antichrist  will  reach  his  culminating  greatness,  and  be 
rooted  up  only  in  his  full  strength  and  pride  by  Christ 
personally  appearing.  Then,  next  will  occur  the  mani- 
festation and  the  glory  of  the  sons  of  God.  The  tares  shall 
be  rooted  out,  removed,  and  cast  into  everlasting  fire. 
The  wheat  will  not  be  removed :  it  will  remain  in  greater 
purity,  and  shine  forth  in  richer  magnificence  and  beauty, 
in  the  field  in  which  it  was  sown.  The  scene  of  their  pro- 
gress will  be  the  scene  of  their  manifestation.  According 
to  Romans  viii.  18,  the  sons  of  God  will  emerge  from  the 
chaos  and  confusion  under  which  they  are  buried  in  this 
world.  Their  life,  now  hid  with  Christ  in  God,  shall  be 
unvailed ;  the  shadow  that  eclipses  them  shall  be  rolled  off, 
and  the  glory  of  heaven  breaking  out  shall  cover  the  whole 
earth,  and  what  is  written  in  Daniel  xii.  3  shall  be  ful- 
filled: "And  they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  bright- 
ness of  the  firmament ;  and  they  that  turn  many  to  righte- 
ousness as  stars  for  ever  and  ever."  This  shall  be  literally 
brought  to  pass. 

Christ's  true  church  and  the  visible  church  are  not  co- 
extensive, or  to  be  confounded,  the  one  with  the  other. 
All  the  man-baptized  are  not  the  God-baptized.  The  worst 
of  errors  originates  from  identifying  the  two.  Assume  the 
vissible  church,  i.  e.  the  tares  and  the  wheat,  to  be  the 
true  church,  the  company  of  the  regenerate,  and  then  apply 
to  it,  as  you  may  justly,  if  it  be  so,  the  glorious  endow- 
ments and  attributes  of  the  inner  and  the  spiritual  church, 


144  FORESHADOWS. 

and  there  will  soon  shoot  up  in  prominent  development  a 
gigantic  antichristian  corporation.  To  say  that  the  sen- 
tence of  a  bishop,  or  the  decision  of  a  presbytery,  is  ac- 
tually the  mind  of  Christ,  and  that  to  deny  it  is  to  cast  off 
Christ's  headship,  is  one  of  those  germinating  principles 
of  Romanism,  which  are  perilous  in  proportion  to  their 
plausibility  and  the  piety  of  those  men  who  espouse  them. 

We  are  one  or  the  other — wheat  or  tares.  There  are 
many  distinctions  in  the  world,  there  are  many  sects  and 
parties ;  but,  disguise  it  as  we  may,  there  are  only  two 
real  and  lasting  classes  of  mankind,  iieyond  whom  all  other 
distinctions  are  extrinsic,  outward,  perishing.  Either 
among  the  tares  or  wheat  we  are.  Sheep  or  goats,  wrise 
or  foolish  virgins,  with  or  without  a  wedding  garment,  each 
one  of  us  stands  before  God  this  day. 

In  the  next  place,  there  shall  be  here,  we  learn,  ever- 
lasting separation.  Children  shall  be  severed  from  their 
parents,  wives  from  their  husbands ;  and  that  separation 
shall  last  for  ever  and  ever.  The  tares  shall  be  bound  in 
bundles ;  the  lost  shall  be  united  into  one,  and  their  union 
shall  only  aggravate  their  curse.  The  wheat  shall  also  be 
collected  together.  All  from  Adam  to  Abraham,  and  from 
Abraham  to  the  end  of  the  world,  who  belong  to  the  church 
of  Christ,  will  stand  together,  and  constitute  one  holy,  and 
happy,  and  blessed  household. 

The  whole  parable  is  suggestive  of  duties  in  the  day  that 
now  is,  and  vividly  prefigurative  of  that  solemn  day  that 
is  soon  to  be.  It  is  a  foreshadow  of  it.  We  may  form  an 
anticipation  of  it,  by  studying  the  outlines  of  the  parable 
of  the  tares  and  wheat.  At  that  day,  when  so  severe  a 
separation  shall  occur,  0  Christ,  number  us  with  thy  saints 
in  glory  everlasting ! 


145 


LECTURE   X. 

THE     RICH     FOOL. 

And  he  spake  a  parable  unto  them,  saying,  The  ground  of  a  certain  rich  man 
brought  forth  plentifully  :  and  he  thought  within  himself,  saying,  What  shall 
I  do,  because  I  have  no  room  where  to  bestow  my  fruits?  And  he  said, 
This  will  I  do :  I  will  pull  down  my  barns,  and  build  greater ;  and  there 
•will  I  bestow  all  my  fruits  and  my  goods.  And  I  will  say  to  my  soul,  Soul, 
thou  hast  much  goods  laid  up  for  many  years ;  take  thine  ease,  eat,  drink, 
and  be  merry.  But  God  said  unto  him,  Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul  shall 
be  required  of  thee :  then  whose  shall  those  things  be,  which  thou  hast  pro- 
vided ?  So  is  he  that  layeth  up  treasure  for  himself,  and  is  not  rich  toward 
God.— LUKE  xii.  16-21. 

IT  appears  from  the  previous  portion  of  the  chapter 
from  which  these  words  are  taken,  that  our  Lord  had  been 
inculcating  upon  his  followers  the  duty  and  the  privilege 
of  perfect  confidence  in  the  love,  the  wisdom,  the  provi- 
dential arrangements  of  their  Father  in  heaven.  It  ap- 
pears, however,  that  in  the  midst  of  this  discourse,  so 
beautiful  and  so  instructive — a  discourse  Avhich  he  resumes 
almost  immediately  after  uttering  the  parable — some  one 
approached  him  with  this  requirement,  "Master,  speak  to 
my  brother,  that  he  divide  the  inheritance  with  me."  Our 
Lord  refused  to  be  a  divider,  called  upon  him,  and  all  who 
sympathized  with  him,  to  beware  of  covetousness,  and  then 
he  related  the  important  and  instructive  parable  which  we 
have  just  read.  Now  the  sin  of  this  man,  who  approached 
our  Lord  with  this  request,  is  not  stated  to  have  been  his 
asking  him  to  divide  the  inheritance.  There  was  no  sin 
in  desiring,  as  far  as  circumstances  permitted  it,  his  right. 
And  if  half  the  inheritance  belonged  to  him,  or  was  be- 

II.  SER.  13 


146  FORESHADOWS. 

queathed  to  him  by  a  legal  and  proper  will,  it  was  his  duty, 
as  it  was  his  right,  to  require  that  half.  His  sin,  there- 
fore, lay  not  in  asking  for  his  rights,  but  in  interrupting  a 
discourse  so  precious,  so  beautiful,  so  instructive  to  the 
multitude,  with  a  petition,  purely,  intensely,  and  exclu- 
sively selfish.  It  was,  in  other  words,  saying  practically 
to  our  Lord,  "I  have  no  time  to  think  about  my  soul.  I 
have  no  confidence  in  these  the  providential  arrangements 
of  heaven.  I  have  a  matter  of  my  own — a  load  that  lies 
heavy  on  my  heart,  and  it  is  the  only  subject  that  I  feel 
to  be  mighty  and  important.  And  if  all  the  world  should 
want  light,  what  do  I  care  ?  if  all  the  souls  of  all  the  mul- 
titude around  thee  should  die  without  a-Saviour,  what  is 
that  to  me  ?  my  great  object  is  to  get  half  of  the  inherit- 
ance. Do  stop  from  teaching  them  the  way  to  heaven, 
and  act  as  a  divider  of  the  inheritance  between  me  and 
my  brother."  One  can  see  that  such  conduct  indicated 
the  intensest  selfishness ;  a  care  for  his  own  little  want  so 
great  as  to  show  that  his  heart  was  in  the  world,  and  an 
insensibility  to  the  wants  of  others,  that  proved  he  cared 
nothing  for  the  kingdom  and  the  things  of  God.  When 
he  made  this  request,  we  read  that  our  Lord  refused  to  be 
a  divider.  In  other  words,  he  acted  upon  this  occasion  as 
he  had  acted  throughout  his  glorious  biography,  as  a  re- 
former of  principles,  a  purifier  of  hearts,  not  a  distributer 
anew  of  the  mechanical  and  civil  arrangements  of  society. 
Our  Lord  came  to  change  men's  hearts,  not  their  circum- 
stances, or  to  change  their  circumstances  by  first  changing 
and  ameliorating  their  hearts.  He  came  not  to  interfere 
with  the  laws,  or  the  arrangements,  or  the  polity,  or  the 
supremacy  of  Caesar ;  but  to  implant  in  men's  souls  living 
truths,  living  principles,  which  should  germinate  and  grow 
until  the  whole  world  should  be  overspread  with  that  king- 
dom whose  great  elements  are  righteousness,  peace,  and 


THE   RICH   FOOL.  147 

joy;  and  the  kingdoms  of  this  world  should  become  the 
kingdoms  of  our  Lord,  not  by  force,  nor  by  fraud,  but  by 
the  living  influence  of  righteousness,  and  purity,  and  holi- 
ness, and  truth.  So  in  this  our  Lord  exhibited  himself  as 
a  very  different  reformer  from  those  that  assume  the  name 
in  the  various  countries  of  the  world.  They  begin  at  cir- 
cumstances, they  have  forgotten  the  heart.  They  say, 
except  your  condition  be  changed,  you  never  can  be  happy. 
Our  Lord  says,  except  a  man's  heart  be  changed,  and  he 
be  born  again,  he  never  can  see  or  enter  the  kingdom  of 
God.  They,  like  empirics,  would  change  the  bed ;  he, 
like  the  great  Physician,  would  heal  the  patient.  Our 
Lord,  after  he  had  made  this  refusal  to  be  a  divider  between 
men,  gives  a  warning,,  and  a  very  solemn  one,  against 
covetousness.  "  Take  heed  and  beware  of  covetousness, 
for  a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the 
things  that  he  hath."  What  is  covetousness  ?  Everybody 
thinks  everybody  covetous  but  himself.  It  is  the  last  impu- 
tation that  a  man  will  admit.  Covetousness  is  not  the 
desire  of  money.  I  cannot  see  any  thing  sinful  in  desiring 
an  addition  to  one's  income,  or  an  improvement  in  one's 
property,  in  dutiful  and  Christian  submission  to  the  will, 
the  sovereignty,  and  the  good  pleasure  of  God.  Money  is 
a  povrer  that  represents  a  thousand  things.  A  sovereign  is 
shoes  for  a  missionary,  a  staff  for  an  invalid,  a  passage  for 
a  Bible,  compressed  into  a  little  circle  of  less  than  an  inch 
diameter,  portable,  and  easily  bestowed  or  exchanged. 

Money  therefore  is  in  itself  a  good  thing,  and  there  is 
nothing  said  in  the  Bible  against  having  money;  nay,  it  is 
not  unchristian  to  be  rich :  Cornelius  was  a  rich  man ;  he 
was  not  sinful  because  he  was  so.  We  read  of  Gaius,  who 
exercised  hospitality  to  the  saints.  Joseph  of  Arimathea 
was  a  wealthy  man,  and  yet  he  was  a  good  man.  It  is  per- 
fectly possible  to  be  poor  as  Lazarus,  and  to  be  the  most 


148  FORESHADOWS. 

covetous  wretch  in  Christendom.  It  is  not  what  a  man  has 
that  makes  the  covetousness,  but  it  is  the  hunger  after  what 
he  has  not,  and  the  concentrating  all  his  thoughts  upon  it, 
and  drawing  from  it  the  main  elements  of  his  joy,  his  com- 
fort, his  satisfaction,  his  repose.  If  a  man,  for  instance, 
desires  to  be  rich  in  order  to  lay  out  his  stores  in  benevo- 
lence, it  is  a  perfectly  proper  wish ;  who  would  not  desire 
it?  One  sometimes  says,  "I  wish  I  were  richer,  I  would 
give  more  to  this  or  that:"  yet  God  knows  best,  if  one  were 
richer  perhaps  one  would  not  be  so  liberal;  for  it  is  a  very 
strange  thing,  that  liberality  does  not  always  grow  with  the 
increase  of  wealth.  The  most  wholesome  habit  that  we  can 
exercise  when  young,  is  that  of  giving ;  for  if  we  get  into 
the  habit  of  constantly  collecting  and  heaping  up,  it  will 
grow  upon  us  till  we  become  misers.  That  man  who  lives 
to  scrape  money,  and  get  his  enjoyment  in  it,  is  a  miserable, 
unhappy  man.  It  is  therefore  a  wholesome  thing  to  get 
into  the  habit  of  giving.  And  who  are  the  persons  that 
give  most?  those  that  always  are  giving.  And  what  are 
the  congregations  that  contribute  most  ?  those  that  always 
are  contributing.  That  is  just  the  secret,  that  persons  who 
give,  are  further  ready  to  give,  till  the  habit  of  liberality 
grows  upon  them,  just  as  the  habit  of  collecting  grows  upon 
another  and  a  very  different  class  of  mankind.  But  the 
desire  of  having  wealth  in  order  to  enjoy  it,  or  the  desire 
of  having  and  adding  to  our  wealth  in  order  to  have  more 
influence  or  more  power,  not  to  do  more  good — this  is  co- 
vetousness. And  against  this  Sinai  has  pronounced  its 
thunders — "thou  shalt  not  covet,"  and  Calvary  has  re- 
corded its  sentiment — "covetousness,  which  is  idolatry." 
And  an  apostle  has  declared  that  this  spirit — the  love  of 
money — "is  the  root,"  not  of  all  evil — that  is  a  mistrans- 
lation— but  of  all  the  evils  specified  in  the  chapter  in  which 
it  occurs.  It  is  matter  of  fact,  that  covetousness,  bad  as 


THE   RICH   FOOL.  149 

it  is,  is  not  the  root  of  all  evils.  And  our  Lord  says,  "a 
man's  life  consisteteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things 
that  he  hath;"  i.e.  his  life,  his  literal  duration  of  life. 
And  who  does  not  knoAV  that  money  cannot  add  to  our 
health?  Is  it  not  a  fact,  that  the  richest  men  have  often 
the  greatest  cares?  There  is  one  point,  I  think,  heyond 
which  property  comes  to  be  a  load,  and  ceases  to  be  a  plea- 
sure, even  in  the  case  of  the  best  men ;  that  is,  when  the 
establishment  rises  to  be  as  large  as  a  manufactory,  and 
the  head  of  it  has  forty,  or  fifty,  or  a  hundred  servants 
under  him,  it  requires  an  immense  deal  of  arrangement 
and  management,  and  he  becomes  much  more  a  tasked  man 
than  the  head  of  a  mercantile  establishment  in  London. 
He  has  the  greatest  cares  and  anxieties ;  his  whole  life  is 
a  plot ;  he  must  constantly  scheme  how  to  make  both  ends 
meet,  compose  disputes,  and  satisfy  demands,  and  give 
orders ;  so  that  there  is  a  point  beyond  which  rank  or  wealth 
ceases  to  be  positive  quiet.  There  is  no  happiness  in  the 
spangle  on  the  robe,  or  in  the  glare  and  glitter  of  the  car- 
riage, or  in  the  magnificence  of  liveries.  In  all  that  the 
world  thinks  the  symbol  of  happiness  there  is  too  often 
only  the  covering  of  corroding  and  carking  cares.  Hence 
it  is  said,  "He  that  loveth  silver,  shall  not  be  satisfied  with 
silver."  Life  cannot  be  lengthened  by  money,  a  man's 
happiness  cannot  be  increased  by  it.  Every  one  must 
know  that  the  springs  of  happiness  are  within ;  the  supply 
of  it  never  can  come  from  without.  Make  the  heart  happy, 
and  the  whole  man  will  be  full  of  happiness;  draw  your 
happiness  from  without,  it  is  a  broken  cistern  from  which 
you  attempt  to  draw  it,  it  can  hold  no  water.  Beware  of 
covetousness :  do  not  begin  the  habit  of  it;  recollect  that 
a  man's  life,  that  is,  happiness,  does  not  consist  in  what  he 
has,  but  in  what  he  is.  Let  a  man  be  made  good,  and  he 
will  be  happy ;  let  him,  while  he  remains  what  sin  has  made 

1 3 ;-! 


150  FORESHADOWS. 

him,  try  to  draw  happiness  from  without,  and  he  will  be 
miserable  still. 

He  spake  this  parable  unto  them  in  order  to  illustrate 
the  sentiment  which  I  have  tried  to  explain.  "  The  ground 
of  a  certain  rich  man  brought  forth  plentifully."  It  is 
quite  plain  that  this  man  was  not  a  good  man :  it  is  as  plain 
that,  though  not  a  good  man,  he  was  prospered  in  the  world. 
"His  ground  brought  forth  plentifully."  What  docs  this 
teach  us?  It  teaches  us  not  to  judge  of  what  we  are  by 
what  God's  providence  does  to  us,  but  to  judge  of  what  we 
are  by  what  God's  word  says  respecting  us.  Yet  many 
persons  reverse  this ;  they  judge  that  they  are  good  because 
their  ground  brings  forth  plentifully,  and  their  merchandise 
succeeds  in  the  world;  and  they  judge  that  others  are  bad 
because  their  property  is  swept  away,  or  their  riches  have 
taken  wing  and  fled  away.  If  this  man  had  been  a  good  man, 
he  would  have  recollected,  when  his  ground  brought  forth 
plentifully,  the  sentiment  which  is  addressed  to  every  one 
whose  ground  or  whose  merchandise  brings  forth  plentifully : 
"when  riches  increase,  set  not  thine  heart  upon  them."  He 
forgot  that :  he  set  his  heart  upon  them,  and  he  perished  with 
them.  How  much  philosophy  there  is  in  this  sentiment  of 
the  Psalmist !  We  have  often  thought,  that  when  a  thing  be- 
comes common  to  a  person  by  his  having  much  of  it,  he 
ceases  to  care  about  it.  This  is  true  of  many  things,  but  it 
is  not  true  of  wealth.  For  strange  to  say,  the  more  money 
one  has,  the  more  one  is  disposed  to  set  one's  heart  upon  it. 
And  when  is  it  that  we  cease  to  do  so  ?  First,  when  riches 
begin  to  flee  away,  then,  strange  it  is,  we  begin  to  have 
less  anxiety  about  them,  and  to  fix  our  affection  less  upon 
them;  so  that  the  increase  of  riches  tends  to  make  us  set 
our  hearts  upon  them  more;  it  is  the  decrease  of  riches 
that  makes  us  feel  less  attachment  to  them.  And  hence 
they  are  generally  least  covetous  who  have  daily  bread  only ; 


THE    11ICII    FOOL.  151 

and  too  often  the  most  covetous  are  they  who  find  at  the 
close  of  every  year  that  their  wealth  is  increasing,  and  their 
ground  bringing  forth  plentifully.  Increase  adds  to  the 
strength  of  covetousness,  decrease  deducts  from  it.  What 
a  perversity  in  human  nature,  that  the  more  God  gives,  the 
less  we  feel  his  hand  in  it,  and  the  more  prone  we  are  to 
worship,  and  adore,  and  love  the  gift  in  the  room  of  God. 
He  whose  ground  thus  brought  forth  plentifully,  we  are 
told,  said  within  himself,  "What  shall  I  do,  for  I  have  not 
room  where  to  bestow  my  fruits?"  "He  thought  within 
himself."  Had  he  been  a  Christian  he  would  have  gone 
to  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  or  some  elder,  or  pious  man, 
and  asked  him,  Do  you  know  of  any  that  are  really  suffer- 
ing? of  any  brother  man  or  brother  Christian  whose  wants 
need  to  be  supplied?  of  any  fire  that  is  burned  out,  and 
the  mother  and  starving  children  arc  creeping  round  it,  and 
perishing  with  cold  ?  Do  you  know  of  any  one  that  wants 
to  spread  the  gospel,  or  to  raise  a  school,  or  to  teach  the 
young,  or  to  do  good  in  any  shape?  God  has  made  me 
rich,  that  I  may  be  more  liberal:  God  has  made  me  a 
steward,  I  wish  to  discharge  the  responsibilities  of  my 
stewardship.  Pie  then  would  have  found  space  in  the  bo- 
som of  the  needy,  and  "room"  in  the  mouths  of  orphans, 
and  would  not  have  needed  to  trouble  himself  where  I  shall 
lay  up  my  goods.  But  his  anxiety  was  only  to  gratify  the 
lust  of  the  eye.  Had  he  been  taught  the  word  of  God,  he 
would  have  recollected  to  lay  up  treasure  in  heaven.  I  be- 
lieve, on  strong  grounds,  that  he  who  gives  to  the  cause 
of  Christ,  does  not  fling  away  his  money;  he  sends  it  be- 
fore him ;  it  enters  heaven  before  him ;  it  is  treasure  that 
he  has  laid  up  with  God,  who  will  always  give  the  interest 
when,  where,  and  how  he  pleases.  Some  men  will  only 
trust  the  stocks,  and  place  their  money  there ;  a  Christian 
man  will  trust  God,  and  place  his  money  with  him,  and 


152  FORESHADOWS. 

leave  him  to  give  interest  or  to  withhold  it,  he  desires  to 
be  rich  toward  God,  and  so  knows  that  all  will  he  well. 
I  sometimes  shrink  from  appealing  for  money  for  good 
objects ;  but  I  am  quite  certain  of  this,  that  I  oblige  you 
in  asking — you  do  not  so  much  oblige  me  in  giving.  I  give 
you  the  opportunity;  I  tell  you  of  the  good  object;  I  tell 
you  of  the  opening,  and  I  am  obliging  you  in  telling  you 
it  is  so,  and  laying  the  responsibility  at  your  door  for  giv- 
ing as  God  may  enable  you.  Thus  it  is  written  by  an  an- 
cient father,  St.  Augustine,  who  wrote  sometimes  very 
beautifully  on  this  very  parable,  in  these  words,  "  God  de- 
sires not  that  thou  shouldest  lose  thy  riches,  but  that  thou 
shouldest  change  their  place."  So  truly  is  this  illustrated 
in  the  fourth  century  by  one  who,  as  I  stated  in  previous 
lectures,  was  one  of  the  first  of  the  white-robed  martyrs 
who  have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb.  But  this  rich  man  did  not  come  to  this 
conclusion:  he  says,  "I  will  pull  down  my  barns  and  build 
greater."  Notice  the  monosyllable  there,  "my,"  through- 
out the  whole  of  his  memorable  speech.  You  can  see  how 
much  there  is  of  "my"  in  it,  i.  e.  how  much  of  self.  Le- 
gally he  could  say  my  barns,  and  my  money,  and  my  goods, 
and  my  fruits ;  but,  in  the  sight  of  God,  they  were  not  his, 
he  was  but  a  trustee ;  they  were  committed  to  his  steward- 
ship: they  were  God's,  for  all  came  from  him,  and  all 
should  have  been  given  to  him.  In  this  he  exhibited  the 
atheism  of  his  nature,  excluding  God,  and  adoring  only  the 
money  that  God  had  given  him.  Again,  he  adds,  "  I  will 
say  to  my  soul."  Not  only  my  fruits,  my  barns,  my  goods, 
but  also  my  soul.  Now  here  his  atheism  displays  itself 
again.  God  says,  "all  souls  are  mine;"  and  any  one  who 
would  exercise  common  sense,  not  to  speak  of  reading  God's 
word,  would  say,  that  soul  is  not  his :  we  cannot  determine 
when  it  shall  go ;  we  cannot  determine  by  what  exit  it  shall 


THE   RICH   FOOL.  153 

go ;  we  cannot  say  that  soul  shall  be  with  the  body  ten  days, 
or  ten  months,  or  ten  years.  The  soul  is  not  our  own,  and 
when  we  fall  asleep,  it  has  always  appeared  to  me  that  we 
make  the  nearest  approach  to  the  separation  of  the  soul  from 
the  body.  It  is  then  that  we  seem  to  let  go  our  grasp  of  life. 
While  we  wake  we  seem  to  have  a  grasp  of  life ;  but  when 
we  sleep  it  seems  as  if  we  had  let  go  life,  and  a  touch,  a 
whisper,  would  steal  it  away  from  us.  This  man,  however, 
said  "my  soul,"  as  if  he  had  made  it,  redeemed  it,  could  com- 
mand its  presence,  and  determine  the  hour  of  its  separation, 
as  if  it  were  like  his  fruits  and  goods,  part  and  parcel  of 
the  stock  or  property  which  belonged  to  him.  Then  he  said 
to  this  soul,  which  he  thus  treated  as  property,  "  Soul,  thou 
hast  much  goods  laid  up  for  many  years ;  take  thine  ease, 
eat,  drink,  and  be  merry."  How  complete  is  the  picture 
of  the  man  presented  in  this  passage  !  He  thought  he 
was  now  secure  against  any  casualty,  his  property  was 
safe,  his  money  was  well  laid  out,  and  he  might  say  to 
himself,  "I  will  cease  to  toil,  I  will  lay  aside  the  cares  of 
business,  I  will  exchange  the  city  for  the  country,  the 
counting-house  for  the  nice  country  villa ;  I  will  look  at 
my  fields,  and  flowers,  and  fruits,  and  farm,  and  eat, 
drink,  and  be  merry,  and  bid  farewell  to  the  din  and  ex- 
citement of  a  city,  and  enjoy  myself."  How  many  have 
said  so  !  yet  never  one  who  said  so  and  made  the  experi- 
ment, without  the  gospel  in  his  heart,  felt  that  his  retire- 
ment was  happy.  Nay,  I  have  heard  that  more  suicides 
have  been  committed  by  those  who  have  retired  from  busi- 
ness, than  ever  were  committed  by  those  who  have  plunged 
in  its  deepest  excitement:  and  why?  because  the  vacuum 
in  the  soul  was  filled  by  the  excitement  of  business ;  while 
when  this  excitement  was  withdrawn  by  their  retirement 
from  business,  there  was  nothing  left  to  fill  the  gap,  all 
was  aching,  chasm,  desolation,  misery.  Some  have  even 


154  FORESHADOWS. 

rushed  back  to  the  city  in  order  to  escape  death ;  others 
have  rushed  from  life,  in  order,  as  they  thought,  to  escape 
its  terrors.  If  I  address  any  one  who  looks  forward  to 
such  a  retirement,  let  me  say,  it  is  perfectly  legitimate,  if 
you  do  it  in  subjection  to  the  will  of  God,  to  look  forward 
to  a  time  when  you  shall  lay  aside  the  bustle  and  excite- 
ment and  disturbance  of  this  world's  business:  but  be  sure 
that  you  have  found  the  element  of  peace  before  you  make 
the  exchange.  "  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his 
righteousness  :"  be  Christian,  and  then  when  you  retire 
from  the  world's  excitement  to  enjoy  the  calm  in  the  twi- 
light of  this  world's  life,  it  will  be  a  twilight  hallowed  by 
the  consciousness  of  peace  with  God,  and  touched  by  the 
first  beams  of  that  approaching  twilight  which  ushers  in 
everlasting  and  glorious  day.  But  how  degraded  was  this 
poor  creature  here !  What  a  terrible  subversion  of  intel- 
lect, and  soul,  and  heart,  in  Epicureanism  !  "Eat,  drink, 
and  be  merry."  That  was  the  essence  of  his  life,  the  sub- 
stance of  his  happiness,  the  only  thing  that  he  could  con- 
ceive to  constitute  happiness.  And  he  adds,  as  if  further 
developing  his  atheistic  feelings,  "  I  have  much  goods  laid 
up  for  many  years."  He  never  thought  that  there  were 
two  ways  by  which  he  could  be  separated  from  his  goods ; 
they  might  be  torn  from  him,  or  he  might  be  snatched  from 
them.  There  are  two  ways  by  which  a  rich  man  and  his 
riches  may  be  separated ;  he  may  be  taken  to  the  judg- 
ment-seat and  leave  his  wealth  behind  him ;  or  the  wealth 
may  be  taken  from  him,  and  leave  him  poor  behind  it. 
This  fool  forgot  the  words  of  James,  "  What  is  your  life  ? 
it  is  even  a  vapour;"  and  then  he  adds  instruction  most 
important :  "  Go  to  now,  ye  rich  men,  weep  and  howl  for 
your  miseries  that  shall  come  upon  you.  Your  riches  are 
corrupted  and  your  garments  are  moth-eaten.  Your  gold 
and  silver  is  cankered,  and  the  rust  of  them  shall  be  a 


THE  RICH   FOOL.  155 

witness  against  you,  and  shall  eat  your  flesh  as  it  were  fire. 
Ye  have  heaped  treasures  together  for  the  last  days." 
But  are  not  the  feelings  of  this  rich  fool,  as  he  is  called  in 
the  parable,  the  feelings  of  many  who  contemplate  turning 
their  thoughts  to  the  gospel  at  some  future  period  ?  Any 
one  who  says,  "I  have  no  time  to  think  ahout  Christianity 
now,  but  God  forbid  that  I  should  never  intend  to  do  so : 
I  admit  the  Bible  to  be  true ;  I  believe  the  gospel  to  have 
claims  upon  me  that  I  cannot  shake  off:  but  at  present  I 
am  so  overwhelmed  with  this  world,  so  taken  up  with  this 
business,  so  absorbed  in  the  settlement  of  these  affairs, 
that  I  cannot  attend  to  it  now ;  but  as  soon  as  I  have  got 
a  partner,  and  as  soon  as  I  have  got  rid  of  the  pressure 
of  this  business,  then  I  intend  to  pay  attention  to  the  Bible 
and  become  a  Christian," — deceives  himself.  Such  words 
are  just  the  echoes,  prolonged  through  successive  centu- 
ries, of  the  man's  sentiment  in  the  text,  "Soul,  thou  hast 
much  goods  laid  up  for  many  years."  We  have  no  sure 
capital  of  life.  We  have  not  a  stock  of  life,  as  we  may 
have  a  stock  of  goods.  I  cannot  say,  I  have  life  for  1852. 
God  gives  the  heart  every  pulse  every  second,  he  gives  us 
our  daily  life  just  as  he  gives  us  our  daily  bread;  and  for 
any  one  to  calculate  upon  life  for  a  year  is  to  exclude  God 
from  his  reckoning,  and  to  play  the  atheist  in  the  matter 
of  chronology  as  well  as  in  the  matter  of  human  conduct. 
Those,  you  may  depend  upon  it,  who  have  no  time  for 
religion  now,  it  is  more  than  a  probability,  never  will  have 
time  for  it.  How  long  time  will  it  take  you  to  be  recon- 
ciled to  God  ?  Do  you  recollect  the  jailer  of  Philippi  ?  He 
came  in  in  the  agony  of  his  fears,  and  cried,  "What  must 
I  do  to  be  saved  ?"  What  was  the  answer  of  the  apostle? 
"  Believe  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  thou  shalt  be 
saved  !"  And  what  was  the  result  ?  The  jailer  believed, 
and  rejoiced,  with  all  his  house.  Reconciliation  to  God 


156  FORESHADOWS. 

is  instant  submission  to  him,  consenting  to  be  saved  in 
God's  way,  for  God's  glory,  according  to  God's  word. 
Salvation  is  just  acquiescence  in  all  that  God  says,  and 
then  going  forth  to  do  the  duties  that  devolve  upon  us,  the 
duties  prescribed  by  Caesar,  or  rendered  necessary  by  our 
circumstances,  with  a  heart  at  peace  with  God ;  and  with 
this  happy  feeling,  come  life,  come  death,  nothing  shall 
separate  me  from  the  love  of  God  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus 
my  Lord.  If  there  are  any  here,  however,  like  the  rich 
fool,  calculating  upon  many  years,  and  thinking  they  have 
much  laid  up  to  carry  them  through  every  vicissitude,  take 
care  lest,  as  his  words  have  been  adopted  by  you,  as  sub- 
stantially the  expression  of  your  feelings,  God's  words 
should  also  light  upon  you  as  substantially  the  pronouncing 
of  your  doom,  "Thou  fool,  this  night  thy  soul  shall  be  re- 
quired of  thee."  God  was  not  ignorant  of  his  words,  nor 
indifferent  to  his  faith.  In  what  shape  He  conveyed  this 
message  we  know  not.  It  may  have  been  a  ray  of  light 
that  shot  into  his  conscience ;  it  may  have  been  a  voice 
that  came  from  the  skies  and  sounded  in  his  ears,  and 
awoke  him  to  a  sense  of  its  reality — whatever  it  was,  it 
pronounced  the  man  a  fool.  "  Thou  fool,  this  night  thy 
soul  shall  be  required  of  thee."  As  if  he  had  said,  "You 
think  yourself  wise,  a  sagacious  man,  buying  in  the  cheap- 
est market,  selling  in  the  dearest ;  you  think  yourself  able 
to  match  any  one  in  making  a  purchase,  and  to  run  a  race 
of  successful  competition  in  making  the  largest  profits.  So 
far  indeed  you  are  wise :  you  may  be  pronounced  wise  on 
the  Royal  Exchange,  and  in  the  city  article,  but  you  are 
pronounced  a  fool  in  heaven,  and  by  the  testimony  of  the 
word  of  God.  It  is  possible  to  be  wise  in  all  the  things  of 
Caesar,  and  to  be  an  absolute  fool  in  the  judgment  of  him 
whose  judgment  only  is  of  worth.  "  Thy  soul,"  he  said, 
"will  be  required  of  thee."  Every  word  is  expressive. 


THE   RICH   FOOL.  157 

"Required  of  thee,"  shows  that  it  would  be  with  reluct- 
ance he  would  surrender  it ;  that  he  would  hold  it  back  as 
if  it  were  his  own,  and  only  give  up  that  soul  when  he 
could  not  resist  the  power  that  applied  for  it.  "Thy  soul 
shall  be  required  of  thee."  That  gift  which  thou  hast 
prostrated — that  treasure  which  thou  hast  buried  in  the 
earth — that  talent  which  thou  hast  wrapped  in  a  napkin — • 
that  possession  of  which  thou  claimest  a  monopoly,  but 
which  thou  hast  no  power  over  whatever,  I  made  and  gave 
to  thee,  like  a  precious  gem,  to  be  polished,  in  order  that 
it  might  reflect  my  glory ;  having  looked  upon  thee,  I  find 
that  thou  hast  wasted  it,  broken  it,  and  prostituted  it ;  and 
therefore,  whether  thou  likest  or  not,  "  this  night  thy  soul 
shall  be  required  of  thee."  Like  a  pitiless  exactor,  the 
tribute  is  demanded,  and  he  had  no  power  to  refuse  it. 
Then  follows  the  question,  "  Then  whose  shall  all  these 
things  be  ;"  those  fruits,  those  enlarged  barns,  this  accu- 
mulated property — whose  shall  it  be  ?  What  will  it  do  for 
thee  ?  Will  it  follow  thee  to  the  judgment-seat  and  pre- 
vail with  the  Judge  to  acquit  you  ?  Will  it  encounter  death 
and  conquer  him  ?  When  you  tremble  on  the  verge  of  the 
grave,  will  it  snatch  you  away,  and  crown  your  efforts  to 
overcome  death,  and  enable  you  to  live  for  ever  ?  Or  if 
you  must  leave  it  behind  you,  as  leave  it  behind  you  must, 
who  will  have  it  ?  And  I  ask  every  rich  man,  who  is  ac- 
cumulating money  under  whatever  pretence,  to  ask  himself 
whose  will  this  property  be  ?  You  say,  your  son's.  But 
are  you  sure  it  will  be  a  blessing  to  him.  Money  is  not 
always  a  blessing :  yet  how  common  is  it  for  men  to  think 
that  if  they  give  to  one  that  comes  after  them  money,  they 
are  giving  him  a  positive  blessing  !  They  are  just  giving 
him  an  element  of  tremendous  power;  it  may  prove  to 
him  a  curse  that  will  cleave  to  him  and  destroy  him  for 
ever.  It  is  not  necessarily  a  blessing.  Be  sure  what  your 

II.  SEB.  14 


158  FORESHADOWS. 

son  is  first,  and  then  give  what  money  God  in  his  good 
providence  may  enable  you.  How  well  does  the  Psalmist 
say,  "  He  heapeth  up  riches,  and  knoweth  not  who  shall 
gather  them  !"  I  have  noticed  that  when  men  defraud  the 
poor,  deny  the  claims  of  charity,  and  of  religion,  and  of 
the  gospel,  in  order  to  accumulate  money,  and  leave  it  to 
those  that  come  after  them,  it  never  proves  a  blessing; 
but,  on  the  .contrary,  those  who  have  responded  liberally 
and  largely  to  every  good,  noble,  and  beneficent  claim, 
have  their  children  growing  up  like  olive-plants  round  their 
table,  blessed,  and  calling  them  blessed.  I  believe  in  a 
God  acting  in  providence  and  watching  all,  and  I  believe 
that  never  yet  was  there  a  liberal  man,  in  the  right  sense 
of  that  word,  liberal  to  all  the  claims  of  religion,  and  cha- 
rity, and  benevolence,  who  was  not  in  some  way  blessed  by 
God.  Even  men  of  the  world,  who  are  liberal  men,  seem 
to  be  far  happier  men  than  others  ;  and  if  there  be  one 
man  worthy  of  the  name  of  miser,  it  is  he  who  has  neither 
the  heart  nor  the  habit  of  giving  to  the  claims  of  Christ 
and  of  the  gospel — "  he  that  layeth  up  treasure  on  earth, 
and  is  not  rich  toward  God."  There  are  two  ways  in 
which  a  man  may  be  rich  toward  God  ;  the  first  is  by  pos- 
sessing the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ,  the  pardon  of 
sin,  peace  with,  God,  acceptance  through  the  blood  of  Jesus, 
the  adoption  of  a  son.  These  are  the  first,  the  chiefest, 
the  greatest  things.  Nothing  must  supersede  them ;  no- 
thing can  be  a  substitute  for  them ;  and  if  a  man  has  not 
peace  with  God,  if  he  is  not  a  Christian,  no  matter  what 
he  may  be  in  the  estimate  of  man,  that  man  is  poor — poor 
indeed.  But  there  is  a  second  way  in  which  one  may  be 
rich  toward  God ;  and  that  is  by  giving  to  God  a  portion 
of  one's  wealth.  You  ask,  "How  give  to  God?"  He  is 
enthroned  upon  the  riches  of  the  universe ;  to  give  to  him 
would  be  like  to  add  a  drop  to  the  ocean,  or  hold  a  taper 


THE   RICH   FOOL.  159 

to  the  meridian  sun.  How  can  we  give  to  God  ?  Our 
blessed  Lord  has  told  us,  and  never  forget  it,  "  Whosoever 
shall  give  to  one  of  the  least  of  these  a  cup  of  cold  water, 
verily  I  say  unto,  he  shall  not  lose  his  reward." 

We  may  draw  one  or  two  conclusions  from  the  parable 
we  have  thus  endeavoured  to  explain.  First,  the  posses- 
sion of  wealth  is  not  sinful.  I  believe  indeed  that  the 
greatest  calamity  to  the  social  system  would  be  the  uni- 
versal equalization  of  all  society,  the  bringing  down  all  to 
one  level.  I  rejoice  that  there  are  the  rich,  I  know  that 
there  will  be  the  poor,  and  if  there  were  no  rich  and  poor, 
there  would  be  no  opportunity  for  the  interchange  of  those 
bright  and  noble  feelings,  that,  like  the  lightning's  sweep 
through  the  skies,  illumine  the  gloom  of  this  world,  and 
show  that  it  has  affinities  stiU  with  heaven.  When  a  man 
gives  freely  for  Christ's  sake,  that  man  does  an  act  that 
makes  the  nearest  approach  to  the  character  of  Christ, 
that  is,  if  he  gives  simply  to  do  good. 

Here,  too,  it  is  important  to  notice,  that  increase  of 
money  brings  with  it  in  every  case  this  peril,  that  it  ex- 
poses to  many  temptations,  it  adds  many  and  mighty  re- 
sponsibilities. I  hope  that  all  who  have  will  feel  this.  I 
mean,  by  a  rich  man,  one  who  is  able  to  pay  all  his  debts 
at  Christmas,  arrd  have  something  over.  I  do  not  mean 
one  who  has  half  a  million,  but  one  who  has  something 
left  after  paying  all  just  and  proper  demands.  I  mean 
one  who  can  look  back  upon  the  last  year,  and  say,  shocks 
have  been  here,  convulsions  there,  and  ruin  has  drawn  its 
ploughshare  along  one  place,  and  death  has  entered  an- 
other. I  have  been  prospered,  and  my  prospects  for  the 
year  to  come  are  still  bright,  and  I  will,  as  a  new-year's 
offering,  give  something  for  Christ's  sake. 

A  day  comes  when  the  richest  sinner  on  earth  shall  be 
seen  to  have  been  poor,  and  the  wisest  worldling  a  fool. 


160  FORESHADOWS 

Let  us  look  on  such  in  the  light  of  eternity.  Let  us  here, 
in  some  degree,  live  in  the  future,  and  let  the  present  be 
spent  in  God's  strength,  and  according  to  his  word,  and 
the  future  will  be  rich  in  blessings  to  us.  Let  us  feel  as 
candidates  for  a  glorious  treasure.  Let  us  live  as  expect- 
ants of  eternal  joy.  Let  all  things  remind  us  this  is  not 
our  rest,  or  our  home.  We  look  for  a  city.  Christ  is  our 
treasure  beyond  the  age  that  now  runs  out.  Let  our 
hearts  beat  beside  him,  and  be  happy  by  responding  to  his 
touch. 


161 


LECTURE  XL 

TRUE   RICHES. 

And  when  he  was  gone  forth  into  the  way,  there  came  one  running,  and  kneeled 
to  him,  and  asked  him,  Good  Master,  what  shall  I  do  that  I  may  inherit  eter- 
nal life  ?  And  Jesus  said  unto  him,  Why  callest  thou  ine  good  ?  there  is  none 
good  but  one,  that  is,  God.  Thou  knowcst  the  commandments,  Do  not  com- 
mit adultery,  Do  not  kill,  Do  not  steal,  Do  not  bear  false  witness,  Defraud 
not,  Honour  thy  father  and  mother.  And  he  answered  and  said  unto  him, 
Master,  all  these  have  I  observed  from  my  youth.  Then  Jesus  beholding 
him  loved  him,  and  said  unto  him,  One  thing  thou  lackest :  go  thy  way,  sell 
whatsoever  thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor,  and  thou  shalt  have  treasure  in 
heaven :  and  come,  take  up  the  cross,  and  follow  me.  And  he  was  sad  at 
that  saying,  and  went  away  grieved :  for  he  had  great  possessions.  And 
Jesus  looked  round  about,  and  saith  unto  his  disciples,  How  hardly  shall  they 
that  have  riches  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God !  And  the  disciples  were  as- 
tonished at  his  words.  But  Jesus  answereth  again,  and  saith  unto  them, 
Children,  how  hard  is  it  for  them  that  trust  in  riches  to  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  God !  It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a  needle, 
than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  And  they  were  as- 
tonished out  of  measure,  saying  among  themselves,  Who  then  can  be  saved? 
And  Jesus  looking  upon  them  saith,  With  men  it  is  impossible,  but  not  with 
God:  for  with  God  all  things  are  possible. — MARK  x.  17-27. 

THE  young  man  recorded  in  this  passage,  •which  seems 
to  be  an  actual  history  rather  than  a  mere  parable,  was 
perfectly  sincere,  and  went  forth  in  the  earnest  pursuit  of 
the  highest  duty  that  devolves  on  man.  His  attitude  was 
« running" — that  of  intense  and  anxious  desire,  and  his 
position,  when  he  arrived,  that  of  kneeling,  an  indication 
of  his  humility  of  mind ;  and  the  language  in  which  he 
addressed  our  blessed  Redeemer  was  in  all  respects  such 
as  became  him :  "  Good  Master,  what  shall  I  do  that  I  may 
inherit  eternal  life?"  At  this  point  Jesus  offered  an  ob- 
jection, apparent  at  least,  to  the  young  man's  application 


162  FORESHADOWS. 

of  the  epithet  "good."  The  sequel  will  show  the  reason 
of  this.  The  young  man  thought  himself  good,  and  Jesus 
just  such  another  as  himself.  Our  lord  was  about  to  con- 
vince him  of  sin,  and  therefore  he  alludes  by  implication 
to  the  only  good  One,  who  alone  is  perfectly  good,  and  so 
teach  the  young  man  to  feel  himself  defective  in  real  good. 
It  was  meant  to  raise  the  young  man's  standard  of  good 
by  presenting  that  standard  in  all  its  perfection,  and  to 
indicate  that  if  he  recognised  not  Jesus  as  God,  he  wholly 
misapplied  the  epithet  good.  Our  Lord,  at  verse  19, 
quotes  the  last  five  commandments,  or  the  second  division 
of  the  moral  law,  first,  probably,  to  show  how  far  the  na- 
tural man  may  go  in  obedience  to  inherent  and  in  itself 
unblamable,  constitutional,  or  conventional  feeling,  and 
other  ordinary  standards,  in  discharging  the  duties  that  he 
owes  to  his  brethren  of  mankind,  not  that  he  could  have 
stood  the  test  if  it  had  been  presented  in  all  its  spirituality 
as  it  is  explained  in  Matt.  v.  21,  22,  27,  28 :  « Ye  have 
heard  that  it  was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  Thou  shalt  not 
kill ;  and  whosoever  shall  kill  shall  be  in  danger  of  the 
judgment :  but  I  say  unto  you,  That  whosoever  is  angry 
with  his  brother  without  a  cause  shall  be  in  danger  of  the 
judgment :  and  whosoever  shall  say  to  his  brother,  Raca, 
shall  be  in  danger  of  the  council :  but  whosoever  shall  say, 
Thou  fool,  shall  be  in  danger  of  hell  fire.  .  .  .  Ye  have 
heard  that  it  was  said  by  them  of  old  time,  Thou  shalt  not 
commit  adultery:  but  I  say  unto  you,  That  whosoever 
looketh  on  a  woman  to  lust  after  her  hath  committed  adul- 
tery with  her  already  in  his  heart."  But  it  appears,  from 
all  we  can  gather,  that  the  outward  character  of  the  young 
man  was  in  every  respect  unexceptionable,  amiable,  bene- 
volent, generous,  and  kind.  And,  while  all  this  was  no 
ground  of  justification  in  the  sight  of  God,  yet  so  far  as  it 
went,  it  was  so  lovely,  that  Jesus  even  regarded  it  with 


TRUE   RICHES.  163 

divine  complacency.  We  may  love  on  earth  those  who 
are  not  loved  in  heaven.  There  may  be  many  beautiful, 
though  human  attractions.  We  may  desire  the  welfare 
of  such,  though  we  may  not  altogether  approve  of  all 
they  are. 

Jesus  said,  "One  thing  thou  lackest."  At  this  point 
there  is  introduced  the  first  table  of  the  law ;  and  its  far- 
reaching  requirements,  in  all  the  length  and  breadth  of 
their  practical  and  universal  application,  are  made  to  con- 
verge into  one  point,  and  by  this  means  it  was  to  show 
whether  God  or  an  idol  was  supremest  in  the  young  man's 
heart.  No  doubt  the  young  man  thought  that  the  first 
table,  and  the  second  too,  had  both  been  kept  by  him,  with- 
out any  real  infraction,  but  here  was  a  test,  which  never 
was  adduced  before.  Can  you  cast  away  your  property, 
and  lean  only  on  God  ?  Can  you  leave  the  land  and  walk 
on  the  sea,  looking  only  to  God  ?  Can  you  live  after  you 
have  thrown  away  the  bread  that  you  eat,  and  learn  that 
man  liveth  not  by  bread  alone,  but  by  every  word  that  pro- 
ceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  God  ?  Do  so — try  it — now 
is  the  occasion.  This  is  a  precedent  ever  applicable  in 
spirit,  though  literally  inapplicable  now.  For  a  short  season, 
at  the  commencement  of  the  Christian  dispensation,  all 
things  were  common.  This  law  is  now  repealed,  as  far  as 
its  strict  literal  obligation  is  concerned ;  for  the  apostle 
speaks,  in  one  of  his  Epistles,  of  collections  for  the  poor, 
and  our  Lord  shows  that  the  permanent  law  is,  "The  poor 
ye  have  always."  Nor  can  the  words  of  our  Lord  imply 
that  alms  are  a  title  to  heaven.  This  would  peril  the  grand 
and  distinctive  doctrine  of  Christianity,  which  pervades 
and  colours  the  whole  of  the  word  of  God,  that  we  are 
justified  by  faith  alone  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ  alone, 
and  would  also  contradict  the  express  assertion,  "By  deeds 
of  law  no  flesh  shall  be  justified,"  and  "though  I  give  all 


164  FORESHADOWS. 

niy  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  have  not  charity,  it  profit- 
eth  me  nothing."  Rom.  iii.  20  ;  1  Cor.  xiii.  3.  Its  obvious 
meaning  is,  part  with  the  object  that  stands  between  you 
and  Christ  Jesus,  and  obstructs  your  union  with  him,  that 
-  binds  you  to  earth,  and  breaks  or  prevents  your  connection 
and  communion  with  heaven.  Subordinate  it,  put  it  down, 
Avatch  against  it,  and  ever  regard  it  as  your  peculiar  peril. 
It  is  the  competitor  for  that  place  which  Christ  must  fill 
with  his  own  glory,  or  forsake.  Whatever  it  is  that  makes 
you  sin,  or  draws  you  away  from  me,  you  must  shrink  from, 
or  you  cannot  be  my  disciple.  The  young  man,  it  is  record- 
ed, went  away  sorrowful.  He  could  not  make  a  sacrifice 
that  would  leave  a  chasm  so  deep  and  so  vast,  that  he  felt, 
however  erroneously,  that  God  could  not  fill  it.  It  would 
create,  he  supposed,  a  sense  of  loss  so  harrowing,  that 
no  treasure  in  earth  or  from  heaven  would  be  adequate  to 
remove  it.  "  I  would,"  some  one  may  say,  to  translate  his 
language  into  modern  phraseology,  "  I  would  become  a  de- 
cided Christian,  but  at  present  I  am  driving  a  profitable 
trade,  which  necessitates  subordination  of  God's  command- 
ments to  the  possible  advancement  of  my  own  worldly  cir- 
cumstances, and  I  must  wait."  Such  a  one  goes  away  sor- 
rowful, perhaps  never  to  return.  "I  would  be  a  Christian," 
says  another,  "  I  feel  its  importance,  its  urgency  deserves 
all  eloquence  in  its  advocates,  but  my  position  in  life,  the 
circumstances  I  move  in,  the  customs  and  conformities  of 
rank  to  which  God  has  raised  me  in  his  providence,  oblige 
me  to  wait.  I  cannot  commit  myself  wholly  to  the  gospel 
now.  I  will  think  of  it  at  a  convenient  season."  Do  not 
mistake  your  real  position.  You  simply  refuse  to  take  up 
the  cross,  you  renounce  the  foundation  of  every  true  hope, 
you  go  away  sorrowful.  You  have  lands  and  houses  and 
great  possessions :  you  are  not  asked  to  resign  them,  but 
to  dedicate  a  portion  to  the  cause  and  spread  of  the  gospel ; 


TRUE   RICHES.  165 

but  your  luxuries  and  indulgences  forbid  you.  You  go 
away  sorrowful,  you  refuse  to  be  one  of  Christ's  disciples. 

How  just  and  natural  is  the  corollary  deduced  from  this  ! 
"  How  hardly  shall  they  that  have  riches  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God!"  One  sometimes  finds  oneself  saying, 
"I  wish  I  were  rich;  I  would,  for  the  sake  of  my  country- 
men and  their  children,  benefit  this  church,  build  that  school, 
and  do  others  good."  But  one  finds  it  necessary  to  check 
oneself,  and  to  say,  "A  change  of  circumstances  might  not 
always  be  accompanied  with  the  same  convictions."  Were 
many  poor  made  rich,  they  would  be  less  useful,  not  more 
useful.  And,  therefore,  the  olden  prayer  most  becomes 
us,  "  Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches,  but  feed  me  with, 
food  convenient  for  me." 

The  "kingdom  of  God"  here  is  plainly  the  sway  and  in- 
fluence of  Christ  Jesus  in  the  gospel;  and  to  enter  into  it, 
is  in  this  passage  equivalent  to  coming  under  the  influence 
and  the  power  of  Christian  truth,  as  it  is  revealed  in  Christ 
Jesus.  At  present,  and  in  our  natural  state,  the  dominion 
of  things  seen  is  so  strong,  that  we  disregard  the  things 
that  are  unseen.  The  sceptre  of  mammon  takes  the  place 
too  much,  and  too  far  and  wide,  and  too  long,  of  the  sceptre 
of  Jesus.  The  attractions  of  sense  supplant  or  supersede 
the  attractions  of  faith.  How  hardly  shall  the  proud  man 
get  rid  of  his  pride !  the  ambitious  man  of  his  idol !  the 
wealthy  man  of  his  confidence !  and  enter  self-renouncing, 
self-denying,  self-sacrificing,  the  kingdom  of  Jesus ! 

But,  it  may  be  asked,  is  not  this  modified  very  much  by 
verse  24,  "And  the  disciples  were  astonished  at  his  words. 
But  Jesus  answereth  again,  and  saith  unto  them,  Children, 
how  hard  is  it  for  them  that  trust  in  riches  to  enter  into 
"  the  kingdom  of  God !"  This  verse  is  often  misinterpreted. 
It  means,  not  trust  in  riches  for  heaven,  but  for  happiness ; 
not  for  future,  but  for  present  happiness.  It  implies,  How 


166  FORESHADOWS. 

hardly  shall  they,  who  arc  absorbed  in  the  things  of  sense, 
be  torn  from  the  circumstances  under  whose  influence  they 
act,  and  brought  to  look  for  happiness,  and  live  under  the 
power  of  faith,  and  hope,  and  holiness,  and  charity,  and  so 
anticipate  their  rest  in  the  age  to  come.  It  is  not  the 
amount  of  wealth,  but  the  resistless  influence  that  it  exerts, 
that  is  the  great  sin.  The  greater  the  amount,  it  is  true, 
too  often  the  greater  is  its  weight.  And  hence,  ordinarily, 
they  that  are  the  richest  drag  the  heaviest  load  behind 
them.  But  we  have  all  heard  of  mendicants  who  have 
been  misers,  and  of  very  rich  men  who  have  been  very 
liberal. 

"It  is  easier  for  a  camel  to  go  through  the  eye  of  a 
needle,"  it  is  added,  "than  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  into  the 
kingdom  of  God."  This  seems,  at  first  sight,  an  unna- 
tural figure,  and  hence  some  have  proposed  to  read,  instead 
of  xd.uTjAoj/,  (cameelon,}  xapdov,  (camilon^)  which  last  denotes 
a  cable,  while  the  former,  so  like  it  in  spelling,  denotes  a 
camel.  Others  refer  to  the  camel  entering  by  the  low  door 
of  the  Arab  tent,  at  which  he  must  kneel  before  he  can 
have  access.  Others  think,  again,  it  refers  to  a  mountain 
gorge  in  Palestine,  called  by  this  name.  Others  retain 
the  words  just  as  they  are  in  our  translation;  and  as  the 
camel  was  the  largest  animal  usually  seen  by  the  Jew,  and 
the  needle's  eye  the  smallest  space  or  aperture  with  which 
one  is  proverbially  familiar,  so  these  two  figures  were 
brought  near  to  each  other.  In  some  of  the  Jewish  Tal- 
mudical  writings,  it  is  said  to  be  "easier  for  an  elephant 
to  pass  through  the  eye  of  a  needle,"  and  the  Arabs  have 
a  proverb,  that  "  the  camel  cannot  go  through  the  eye  of 
a  needle." 

Being  astonished  above  measure,  the  disciples  asked, 
;  "Who  then  can  be  saved?"  They  all  felt  condemned  and 
guilty  before  God.  Whether  rich  or  poor,  they  all  saw, 


TRUE   RICHES.  167 

because  they  all  felt  the  attractions  of  time,  and  that  they 
too  were  on  the  mighty  current  and  rushing  away  from 
God,  and  hence  they  asked,  in  language  almost  approach- 
ing to  despair,  "Who  then  can  be  saved?"  The  answer 
is  given,  "With  men  it  is  impossible,  but  not  with  God:  for 
with  God  all  things  are  possible."  Man  cannot  change  the 
heart,  the  taste,  or  the  affections.  No  human  hand  can 
reach,  and  touch,  and  retune  the  tangled  feelings  of  the 
human  soul,  or  lift  it  high  above  the  love  of  earthly  riches 
to  the  love  of  the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ.  All  elo- 
quence, the  most  fervid,  has  been  known  to  fail ;  all  example, 
however  beautiful,  has  ceased  to  act ;  and  nations  and  in- 
dividuals have  confessed  that  the  salvation  of  the  least  and 
of  the  greatest  sinner  are  equally,  not  by  might,  nor  by 
power.  Who  can  bring  a  clean  thing  out  of  an  unclean? 
The  love  of  the  world,  the  lust  of  the  flesh,  and  the  pride 
of  life — this  world's  trinity — need  the  triune  Jehovah  to 
extirpate  them.  But  "with  God  all  things  are  possible." 
The  salvation  of  the  sinner,  the  most  difficult  of  all,  in  our 
apprehension,  is  possible  with  God.  This  is  now  made 
actual  in  the  grand  provision  of  a  sacrifice  for  sin  made  by 
Christ  upon  the  cross,  in,  and  through,  and  by  which  what 
was  impossible  before  is  possible  now — nay,  not  possible, 
but  actual.  God  is  just,  while  he  justifies  them  that  believe 
in  Christ  Jesus.  That  blessed  Saviour  has  paid  all  hu- 
manity ever  owed  to  God,  and  has  purchased  more  than 
God  ever  owed  to  us.  A  birthright  is  ours,  which  Esau 
could  sell,  but  which  Jacob  could  not  buy.  We  have  gained 
in  Christ  more  than  we  lost  in  Adam.  The  obstruction  is 
utterly  swept  away,  and  there  is  no  impediment  in  the 
heaven  above,  or  in  the  earth  beneath,  except  in  our  un- 
belief, to  our  entering  into  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  being 
numbered  with  the  saints  of  God  in  glory  everlasting. 
We  learn  from  the  whole  of  this  passage,  that  riches  are 


168  FORESHADOWS. 

not  necessarily  the  blessings  that  some  suppose.  They  are 
apt  to  produce  pride  in  those  that  possess  them,  and  thus 
to  contract  our  spirits ;  and  stint  our  sympathies  with  man- 
kind ;  and,  at  all  events,  they  render  ever  needful  the  Avords 
of  the  apostle,  "  Charge  them  that  are  rich  in  this  world, 
that  they  be  ready  to  distribute."  Money  lays  the  heart 
open  to  many  temptations  and  corruptions;  it  presents 
great  facilities  for  sin ;  and  the  rare  fact  is  still  what  it 
was  in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  that  not  many  rich,  or 
noble,  are  called.  Let  us  not  regret  that  we  are  poor  in 
this  world's  wealth  if  we  are  rich  toward  God ;  if  we  have 
the  enduring  riches,  we  have  that  which  neither  thief  can 
steal,  nor  moth  consume,  nor  rust  corrupt.  Let  us  take 
up  our  cross,  and  follow  Christ  here,  and  ours  shall  be  at 
the  last  day  an  inheritance  incorruptible  and  undefiled  and 
that  fadeth  not  away.  Especially  you  that  are  Christians, 
and  yet  rich,  convert  a  portion  of  your  riches  to  the  service 
of  Christ.  Make  friends  of  the  unrighteous  mammon; 
lay  it  out  in  extending  the  kingdom  of  God.  Death  may 
not  tear  up  your  parchment,  and  your  title-deeds,  but  it 
will  remove  you  from  them;  and  therefore  make  friends 
now  of  the  unrighteous  mammon.  Let  the  glories  of  the 
future  shed  some  of  their  rays  on  the  possessions  of  the 
present.  In  our  disposal  of  what  we  now  have,  let  us  act 
as  those  that  must  give  an  account ;  and  having  rightly 
managed  the  worldly  mammon,  let  us  see  in  this  a  fore- 
shadow of  our  introduction  to  the  true  righteousness  and 
riches  of  the  kingdom  of  glory. 


169 


LECTURE  XII. 

THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS. 

And  he  spake  this  parable  unto  certain  which  trusted  in  themselves  that  they 
were  righteous,  and  despised  others.  Two  men  went  up  into  the  temple  to 
pray;  the  one  a  Pharisee,  and  the  other  a  publican.  The  Pharisee  stood 
and  prayed  thus  with  himself,  God,  I  thank  thee,  that  I  am  not  as  other 
men  are,  extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers,  or  even  as  this  publican.  I  fast 
twice  in  the  week,  I  give  tithes  of  all  that  I  possess.  And  the  publican, 
standing  afar  off,  would  not  lift  up  so  much  as  his  eyes  unto  heaven,  bat 
smote  upon  his  breast,  saying,  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner.  I  tell  you, 
this  man  went  down  to  his  house  justified  rather  than  the  other :  for  every 
one  that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased :  and  he  that  humbleth  himself 
shall  be  exalted. — LUKE  xviii.  7-14. 

IT  is  plain  that  this  parable  has  no  national  relation,  as 
far  as  the  Jewish  nation,  distinct  and  separate  from  the 
Gentile,  is  concerned.  It  is  a  parable  written  not  for  a 
nation,  or  for  a  century,  or  for  a  sect,  or  a  party,  but  for 
all  nations,  for  all  ages,  for  man  in  every  land,  and  under 
every  variety  of  religious  circumstance.  It  is  obvious, 
from  the  very  structure  of  the  parable,  that  the  relation- 
ship of  Jew  and  Gentile  was  not  in  the  Saviour's  mind  at 
the  moment.  It  was  spoken  not  to  the  Pharisee  as  such, 
or  to  the  publican  as  such,  but  to  the  great  classes  of  which 
these  are  the  types  in  every  age,  and  who  are  described 
by  our  Lord  himself  in  the  9th  verse.  "  He  spake  this 
parable  unto  certain  which  trusted  in  themselves  that  they 
were  righteous,  and  despised  others."  It  is  very  strange, 
but  true,  that  they  who  have  the  least  righteousness  always 
trust  the  most  in  such  as  they  have,  as  if  they  were  in- 
wardly conscious  that  they  had  very  little,  and  that  there- 

II.  SBR.  15 


170  FORESHADOWS. 

fore  they  must  make  the  most  of  it.  It  is  a  scarcely  less 
remarkable  fact,  that  they  who  are  the  most  self-righteous, 
the  most  confident,  having  the  greatest  trust  and  confi- 
dence in  their  own  excellency  and  virtue,  are  the  very 
parties  that  despise,  and  proceed  from  despising  to  perse- 
cute, and  from  persecuting  to  imprison,  and  from  imprison- 
ing to  burn  others. 

Now  in  order  to  teach  the  two  classes  of  which  these 
were  the  types,  a  great  practical  lesson,  our  Lord  does  not 
do  as  we  are  often  apt  to  do — proclaim  abstract  truths — 
but  he  paints  a  true  picture ;  he  does  not  present  to  them 
metaphysical  or  abstract  disquisitions  upon  the  sin  of  self- 
righteousness  and  despising  others,  but  he  sketches  a 
beautiful  and  expressive  parable ;  he  takes  a  chapter  from 
human  history,  that  has  an  echo  in  the  human  heart,  and 
bequeaths  it  to  all  in  the  parable  of  the  Pharisee  and  the 
publican. 

"Two  men  went  up  into  the  temple  to  pray,"  created 
by  the  same  God,  breathing  the  same  atmosphere,  basking 
in  the  same  sunbeam,  drenched  in  the  same  showers,  walk- 
ing on  the  same  earth,  nursed,  cradled,  living  and  dying, 
and  soon  to  be  buried  with  kindred  dust !  What  manifold 
points  of  identity  were  theirs ! — they  were  men.  Yet 
what  practical  divergence! — the  spirit  of  the  Pharisee 
moving  off  at  a  tangent  in  one  direction,  and  the  spirit  of 
the  publican  moving  downward  in  an  opposite  direction. 
You  ask,  perhaps,  who  were  the  Pharisees  ?  I  need  not 
give  a  disquisition  on  their  character.  I  would  dwell 
rather  on  the  spirit  than  on  the  history  of  the  sect.  They 
were  called  Pharisees  from  Pharash,  a  Hebrew  word,  which 
means  "to  separate,"  or  "separation."  They  were  no 
doubt  the  most  popular  sect  among  the  Jews ;  they  built 
their  claims  exclusively  on  conformity  to  outward  cere- 
monies ;  they  believed  that  an  outward  ceremonial,  beauti- 


THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  171 

fully  performed,  was  at  least  as  acceptable  to  God  as  in- 
ward purity — that  long  prayer  was  a  greater  virtue  than 
a  pure  and  holy  life ;  they  preferred  fasts  to  virtues  ;  and 
holy  vestments,  they  believed,  were  more  beautiful  in  God's 
sight  than  clean  hearts ;  they  wore  long  phylacteries — a 
sort  of  long  robe,  on  which  they  had  passages  from  the 
law,  and  every  inch  of  which  was  a  sort  of  "Noli  me  tan- 
gere"  or  "Touch  me  not" — a  "Stand  aside,  I  am  holier 
than  thou,  for  I  am  a  Pharisee."  The  publicans  were  the 
tax-gatherers,  or  farmers  of  revenue  for  Caesar.  They 
collected  money  from  the  people,  and  as  they  were  obliged 
to  be  rigid,  because  they  were  officers  acting  ministerially, 
they  were  extremely  hated  by  those  who  did  not  like  to 
pay  taxes ;  and  they  were  still  more  hated  by  the  Jews, 
because  they  were  the  representatives  of  Caesar's  power ; 
and  ever  as  the  tax-gatherer  appeared  at  their  doors,  it 
was  a  dark  shadow,  reminding  them  of  their  subjection, 
and  proving  to  us  that  the  sceptre  had  passed  away  from 
Israel,  and  that  Judah  was  a  slave.  The  publicans,  there- 
fore, were  especially  detested.  Hence  we  read  of  "pub- 
licans and  sinners,"  or,  as  it  might  be  translated,  I  think, 
fairly  enough,  (the  Greek  conjunction  -/.at  having  often  the 
sense  of  "even,")  "publicans,  even  sinners."  The  two 
words  became  convertible.  We  know  they  were  generally 
a  profligate  and  degraded  race  of  men.  This  publican 
was  one  that  had  no  phylactery  to  wrap  around  him,  and 
so  to  feel  that  he  was  holy ;  he  had  no  splendid  ceremonies 
which  he  had  complied  with,  and  which  made  him  think  he 
had  made  an  atonement  for  his  sins ;  he  had  nothing  but 
his  own  naked  heart,  his  own  conscious  depravity,  his  own 
self-convicted  alienation  and  apostasy  from  God — nothing 
but  shame  and  sin  were  his,  he  had  nothing  on  which  he 
could  hook  a  thought  of  self-glory,  or  self-praise.  The 
Pharisees  were,  to  use  a  modern  expression,  the  Brahmins 


172  FORESHADOWS. 

of  India,  and  the  publicans  were  the  Pariahs.  The  Phari- 
sees were,  to  give  another  antitype,  the  Romanists  and 
Tractarians  of  England,  and  the  publicans  were  the  hea- 
thens in  our  streets  and  alleys,  or  the  men  that  either 
never  hear  the  gospel,  or  that  know  its  name,  and  live  in 
the  gross  disregard  of  it.  These  were  types  of  two  great 
classes — classes  which,  whether  designated  or  not,  are 
found  everywhere  in  human  society. 

Now,  in  watching  the  points  of  identity  between  these 
men  selected  for  the  parable,  let  me  notice  that  both 
acknowledged  the  duty  and  the  privilege  of  prayer.  The 
two  men,  the  Pharisee  and  the  publican,  went  into  the 
temple  to  pray.  Does  not  this  seem  to  indicate  that  there 
is  in  every  congregation  a  great  mixture,  which  indeed  we 
know — Pharisees  here  and  publicans  there.  If  every 
heart  could  be  laid  bare,  and  the  true  state  and  character 
of  every  man  unfolded,  what  a  heterogeneous  mixture 
would  our  best  congregation  appear !  Bowed  knees,  and 
unbent  hearts  ;  devout  countenances,  and  undevout  souls  ; 
in  the  same  temple,  holy  men  in  rags,  and  saints  in 
suffering,  and  sinners  consciences-struck ;  these  different 
classes  beneath  the  same  roof,  but  not  in  the  same  church, 
or  clothed  with  the  same  righteousness ;  using  the  very 
same  psalm  in  praise,  and  concurring  apparently  in  the 
very  same  words  in  prayer,  and  yet,  many  neither  praising 
nor  praying;  men  like  Christians,  and  professing  to  be 
Christians,  and  yet  not  so  ;  men  that  you  would  not  expect 
to  be  Christians,  who  have  the  deepest,  purest,  holiest 
thoughts  within  them,  whose  life  is  fact,  whose  conduct 
never  is  pretension,  who  would  rather  be  than  seem,  and  be 
better  than  they  seem  to  be. 

These  two  went  into  the  temple  and  prayed.  We  read 
of  the  Pharisee,  and  let  us  take  his  character  first,  "he 
stood  and  prayed  thus  with  himself."  Some,  and  indeed 


THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  173 

most  commentators,  have  the  idea  that  the  attitude  of  the 
Pharisee  was  an  attitude  of  pride.  I  do  not  think  this  is 
fact,  because  we  find  that  the  publican  kept  the  same 
attitude.  We  read  of  him  in  the  13th  verse,  that  he  was 
"standing  afar  off."  Standing,  therefore,  cannot  be  set 
down  as  evidence  of  the  pride  of  the  Pharisee.  Besides, 
we  find  that  among  the  Jews  all  sorts  of  attitudes  prevailed 
in  worship.  We  read  of  them  standing ;  sometimes  kneel- 
ing ;  of  their  falling  flat  upon  their  faces.  Thus,  for 
instance,  it  is  recorded  of  Solomon,  when  he  prayed  to 
God  at  the  dedication  of  the  temple,  "  Solomon  stood  be- 
fore the  altar  of  the  Lord  in  the  presence  of  all  the  con- 
gregation." In  another  place  we  have  an  instance  of 
another  attitude.  Of  Daniel  we  read  that,  «  his  windows 
being  open  in  his  chamber  toward  Jerusalem,  he  kneeled 
upon  his  knees  three  times  a  day  and  prayed."  When 
Paul  parted  with  the  Ephesian  presbyters,  he  kneeled 
down  upon  the  sands  by  the  sea-shore.  And  we  read  of 
our  Lord  falling  flat  on  his  face.  In  the  first  two  centuries 
that  succeeded  the  age  of  the  apostles,  Christians,  when 
they  prayed,  knelt  upon  week  days,  and  stood  up  on 
Sabbath  days.  The  reason  they  assigned  was,  that  the 
Sabbath  was  chiefly  a  festival,  and  that  it  became  them  to 
stand,  rather  praising  than  praying,  upon  that  day  which 
commemorated  the  resurrection  of  Christ  from  the  dead, 
and  was  instituted  on  account  of  that  fact.  Various  forms 
of  worship  have  prevailed,  yet  these  are  not  the  main 
things ;  let  us  ever  look  above,  and  through,  and  beyond 
the  form.  It  is  the  heart  that  prays,  not  the  body.  God 
hears  the  beatings  of  the  heart,  and  not  so  much  the 
words  and  the  expressions  of  the  tongue.  God  looks  at 
the  imagery,  the  feeling,  the  convictions,  the  humiliation 
•within,  not  at  the  bended  knee,  or  the  erect  form,  or  the 
devout  attitude  without.  When  we  draw  near  to  God  in 

15* 


174  FORESHADOWS. 

prayer,  let  us  present  a  humble  heart  rather  than  a  bowed 
knee  ;  a  cleansed  soul  before  washen  hands ;  a  worship  in 
spirit  and  in  truth,  in  preference  to  the  most  splendid 
formalism,  or  the  most  gorgeous  ceremonial.  How  foolish, 
if  this  be  the  case,  is  it  for  men  to  dispute  about  these 
forms !  If  it  be  that  all  sorts  of  forms  are  recognised  by 
the  Old  and  New  ^Testament  Scriptures,  how  useless,  to 
say  nothing  else,  to  dispute,  and  dispute  fiercely,  about 
their  comparative  propriety.  It  seems  to  me  that  one 
evidence  in  favour  of  the  Bible  is,  that  its  rubric  is  beauti- 
fully vague,  while  its  enumeration  of  great  principles  is 
distinct,  sharp,  emphatic,  unmistakable.  I  think  it  would 
be  somewhat  difficult  to  gather  from  the  Bible,  Episcopacy, 
Presbytery,  or  Independency;  but  I  think  it  is  as  plain 
as  daylight,  that  Christ  died  for  the  chiefest  of  sinners. 
I  think  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  infer  from  the  Bible 
some  of  those  rubrics  about  which  men  have  fought,  and, 
to  their  shame,  have  slain  each  other ;  but  it  is  very  easy 
to  gather  from  the  Bible  this — that  "  Except  a  man  be 
born  again,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  heaven."  The 
rubrical  and  ritual  forms  of  the  Bible  are  latitudinarian  in 
the  extreme,  for  it  prescribes  no  one  in  particular ;  but  in 
saving  and  sanctifying  truths,  the  Bible  is  exclusive  in  the 
highest  degree,  and  can  admit  of  no  concession  and 
tolerate  no  compromise.  The  Bible  will  allow  you  to 
worship  in  any  form,  if  you  worship  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 
It  will  allow  you  to  kneel  upon  any  hill  consecrated  or 
unconsecrated,  if  the  heart  kneels  too.  It  will  allow  you 
to  pray  with  a  liturgy,  or  pray  without  one  ;  to  praise 
with  an  organ,  or  praise  without  one ;  to  preach  in  any 
form,  and  hear  in  any  shape ;  to  sit  in  open  pews,  or  in 
shut  ones,  or  in  no  pews  at  all.  But  it  insists  on  this  as 
the  grand  essential  of  all  worship,  "  God  is  a  Spirit,  and 
they  that  worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in 


THE    TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  175 

truth."  There  is  no  distinction,  therefore,  in  this  part  of 
the  attitude  of  the  Pharisee  very  marked  from  that  of  the 
poor  publican. 

In  our  version  it  is  said,  "  The  Pharisee  stood  and 
prayed  thus  with  himself."  The  words  "with  himself," 
strictly  and  properly  belong  to  the  word  "stood."  "He 
stood  by  himself  and  prayed  thus."  He  did  not  pray 
thus  with  himself,  in  the  sense  of  praying  internally,  that 
nobody  might  hear  him,  for  it  was  one  of  the  main  designs 
of  the  Pharisee,  that  everybody  should  hear  him.  There- 
fore, the  "himself"  belongs  to  the  word  "stood,"  and  not 
to  the  word  "prayed."  The  proper  rendering  would  be, 
"  The  Pharisee  stood  by  himself  and  prayed  thus."  There 
is  something  extremely  expressive  here.  I  have  stated 
that  the  name  Pharisee  is  derived  from  a  word  which 
means  to  separate.  We  notice  here  the  separation,  the 
"stand  aside,  for  I  am  holier  than  thou,"  the  "do  not 
come  near  me"  feeling.  We  see  how  that  characterized 
the  man,  not  only  in  his  name  and  in  his  sect,  but  in  every 
thing  he  did.  He  must  pray  as  a  Pharisee,  or  he  would 
not  pray  at  all.  He  would  not  mingle  with  the  crowd, 
lest  he  should  be  defiled.  If  he  had  a  pew  in  the  temple, 
it  must  have  been  some  very  magnificent  one,  erected 
above  all  the  others,  that  the  rest  of  the  people  might  see 
it.  Nothing  is,  in  my  mind,  more  offensive  than  this  last, 
which  even  now  occurs.  In  the  house  of  God  there  should 
be  no  such  distinctions ;  they  are  not  consonant  with  that 
beautiful  equality  which  ought  to  be  in  that  house  where 
there  are  but  two  classes — sinners  on  the  one  hand,  and 
saints  upon  the  other.  This  Pharisee,  however,  would  not 
mingle  with  the  crowd,  lest  he  should  be  defiled ;  he  would 
be  saved  in  solitary  dignity,  or  he  would  not  be  saved  at 
all ;  he  must  go  to  heaven  as  a  Pharisee,  or  he  would  not 
go  there  at  all;  he  would  not  lay  himself  down  on  the 


176  FORESHADOWS. 

same  platform  of  humiliation  and  shame  with  the  publican, 
if  he  should  be  lost  for  ever.  This  will  not  do.  We 
cannot  go  to  heaven  with  our  phylacteries  about  us.  We 
cannot  be  saved  as  Churchmen,  or  as  Dissenters ;  as 
Episcopalian,  or  Moravian,  or  Baptist,  or  Independent. 
God  will  not  deal  with  us  upon  this  footing  at  all.  We 
must  approach  him  simply  as  sinners,  and  in  no  other 
capacity  upon  earth.  We  must  be  saved  entirely  as  sin- 
ners, and  in  no  other  character  in  the  universe  of  God. 
As  sinners  we  must  approach  his  footstool ;  as  sinners  we 
must  approach  his  throne.  As  sinners  we  must  pray,  and 
as  sinners  we  must  praise.  Come  in  any  other  capacity — 
come  as  queen,  as  noble,  as  plebeian ;  come  as  Church- 
man, or  as  Dissenter — and  God  can  have  nothing  to  'do 
with  you.  You  must  leave  your  robe,  your  crown,  your 
coronet,  your  sceptre,  your  Shibboleth,  outside  the  doors, 
and  come  simply  as  a  poor  sinner — a  sin-smitten,  guilty, 
broken-hearted  sinner,  saying,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a 
sinner ;"  and  he  will  hear  you  and  bless  you,  as  sure  as 
he  lives  in  heaven.  This  Pharisee,  however,  was  of  another 
opinion,  and  he  would  therefore  come  as  a  Pharisee,  and 
in  no  other  shape.  But  he  begins  his  prayer  with  what 
was  most  appropriate.  I  do  not  think,  with  some,  that  the 
very  commencement  of  his  prayer  is  indicative  of  his  spirit. 
It  is  quite  right  to  thank  God.  David  begins  many  of  his 
most  beautiful  'Psalms,  that  end  in  the  most  eloquent 
prayer,  by  thanksgiving.  The  103d  Psalm,  for  instance, 
begins  with  "  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my  soul :  and  all  that  is 
within  me,  bless  his  holy  name.  Bless  the  Lord,  0  my 
soul,  and  forget  not  all  his  benefits."  There  was,  there- 
fore, no  sin  in  the  Pharisee  commencing  with  "  I  thank 
thee."  The  eucharistic  preface  to  his  prayer  was  not 
sinful,  nor  inappropriate,  nor  unbecoming.  It  was  per- 
fectly orthodox  and  scriptural  in  expression.  But  what 


THE    TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  177 

docs  this  teach  us  ?  That  we  fnay  pray  orthodoxly,  and 
not  pray  at  all ;  that  we  may  use  the  purest  of  liturgies, 
and  yet  present  the  impurest  and  vilest  of  prayers;  that 
it  is  quite  possible  to  use  the  very  words  of  God,  and  yet 
not  be  heard.  Many  pray,  who  never  say  prayers ;  and 
many  say  prayers,  and  never  pray  at  all.  It  is  the  heart 
that  prays.  If  it  pray  not,  you  might  as  well  make  an 
automaton  pray,  or  do  as  the  Chinese  do,  pray  by  wind- 
mills and  machinery.  « God  is  a  Spirit,  and  they  that 
worship  him  must  worship  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 
Let  us  never  forget  this. 

But  the  orthodoxy  of  the  Pharisee's  thanksgiving,  it  is 
plain,  was  but  the  thin  vail  that  scarcely  concealed  his 
pride.  He  thanked  God,  not  because  he  was  grateful,  but 
he  thanked  God  eloquently,  in  order  that  the  world,  the 
proud  worshippers  around  him,  might  know  what  he  was. 
He  praised,  in  other  words,  under  the  pretence  of  giving 
glory  to  God  for  what  God  had  made  him ;  but  he  meant 
to  give  a  catalogue  of  his  own  virtues  and  excellencies,  a 
sort  of  advertisement  of  his  piety  and  purity;  a  sort  of 
information  to  the  world ;  as  if  conscious  that  his  piety 
was  too  little  ever  to  make  itself  apparent  in  acts ;  and  he 
took  care,  therefore,  that  it  should  be  heard  loudly  and 
distinctly  by  the  expressions  of  his  lips.  It  was  not  God's 
grace  that  he  wanted  to  praise,  but  his  own  virtues ;  not 
religion  that  he  desired  to  commend,  but  his  own  pharisai- 
cal  sect.  Here  then  was  the  fly  in  the  ointment  that  cor- 
rupted the  whole  :  here  was  the  polluted  thing  in  his 
prayer, — that  he  made  thanksgiving  to  God  a  mere  instru- 
ment for  glorifying  and  praising  himself  as  the  most  excel- 
•  lent  of  men,  the  most  unrivalled  of  the  doctors  of  the 
sanhedrim. 

He  went  on,  however,  not  only  to  say  that  he  had  ex- 
cellencies himself,  but  to  contrast  what  he  was  with  what 


•178  FORESHADOWS. 

other  men  were.  "God,  I  thank  thee,  that  I  am  not  as 
ether  men  are,  extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers."  One 
cannot  but  ask,  in  the  very  outset,  What  business  had  he 
to  pronounce  thus  uncharitably  upon  other  men  ?  How 
did  he  know  that  other  men  were  so,  unless  he  had  mingled 
with  them  ?  How  had  he  opportunities  of  coming  to  so 
accurate  a  judgment  as  that  which  is  pronounced  here  ? 
We  may  observe  also  in  all  his  praise  and  prayer,  what  a 
large  space  is  occupied  by  the  monosyllable  "I,"  how  self 
predominates!  "I  thank  thee  that  I  am  not  as  other 
men."  "/fast."  "I give  tithes."  One  of  the  very  first 
effects  of  the  gospel  is  to  sink  self;  and  if  ever  "I"  comes 
in,  it  is  in  the  beautiful  form  in  which  the  apostle  uses  it. 
"By  the  grace  of  God  I  am  what  I  am."  "I  laboured 
more  than  they  all," — here  Paul  was  beginning  as  a  Pha- 
risee, the  old  nature  struggling  for  supremacy;  but  in- 
stantly he  checked  himself  and  crushed  it,  and  added, 
"Yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of  God  in  me."  What  a  con- 
trast !  The  Pharisee  was  all  self-eulogy,  self-panegyric ; 
the  apostle  all  submersion  of  "I"  in  the  great  "I  am  that 
I  am."  The  Pharisee  then  contrasts  himself  with  other 
men ;  and  with  the  most  masterly  skill,  with  the  most  ex- 
quisite pictorial  effect,  he  selects  as  his  foil  the  poor  publi- 
can, who  is  standing  in  a  nook  far  away  from  the  holy 
place,  praying  aloud,  "God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner." 
He  takes  this  poor  publican,  and  makes  him  the  back- 
ground of  his  picture,  and  on  that  background  he  presents 
himself,  and  says,  as  it  were,  "I  am  not  even  as  this 
publican."  What  a  contrast  between  us  !  There  he  is, 
poor  fellow,  beating  his  breast,  lamenting  his  sins,  grieving 
over  and  admitting  his  weakness  and  wickedness,  as  he 
well  may ;  but  I  need  no  repentance ;  I  have  done  nothing 
but  virtuous  actions ;  they  sparkle  about  my  brow ;  they 
are  transparent  in  my  whole  biography.  The  inside  of 


THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS. 

the  platter  is  clean  as  the  outside.  I  have  a  washen  heart 
as  well  as  washen  hands.  I  need  no  repentance,  and  I 
have  only  to  thank  God  that  I  am  not  as  other  men,  nor 
even  as  this  publican.  "When  a  painter  produces  a  very 
fine  painting,  and  wishes  the  main  figure  to  be  very  pro- 
minent, he  makes  it  as  bright  as  he  can,  and  the  back- 
ground he  makes  as  dark  as  he  can.  This  is  the  conduct 
of  the  Pharisee ;  he  makes  himself  stand  out  the  prominent, 
bright  object ;  and  the  poor  publicans,  extortioners,  and 
sinners  are  dragged  in  to  constitute  the  dark  background, 
from  which  he  shall  be  thrown  out  with  richer  lustre  and 
greater  beauty. 

Having  pronounced  a  panegyric  upon  himself,  and  shown 
that  he  had  no  sins,  and  so  far  given  his  negative  side,  as 
it  were,  he  proceeds  to  turn  his  other  side,  in  order  to  show 
that  he  was  not  only  destitute  of  great  sins, — that  he  was 
neither  an  extortioner  nor  adulterer, — but  that  he  had 
many  positive  virtues.  The  first  is  this:  "I  fast  twice  in 
the  week."  And  do  not  the  virtues  that  he  expatiates  on 
indicate  the  thorough  ceremonialist  and  self-righteous 
Pharisee?  He  does  not  say,  "I  love  God  with  all  my 
heart,"  "I  love  my  neighbour  as  myself."  His  own  con- 
science would  have  cut  the  sentence  short  on  his  lips, 
because  it  would  have  told  him  he  was  telling  lies.  I 
believe  he  spoke  the  honest  truth,  when  he  said,  "I  fast 
twice  in  the  week."  Let  us  notice  the  force  of  this  ex- 
pression. The  divine  appointment  was  that  he  should 
only  fast  once  a  year,  at  the  great  day  of  atonement  under 
the  Levitical  economy.  This  man  not  only  fasted  accord- 
ing to  the  number  of  times  that  God  had  appointed,  but  he 
fasted  twice  a  week.  What  did  this  imply  ?  It  was  as 
much  as  to  say,  "  God  thus  becomes  my  debtor :  I  have 
done  more  than  God  has  exacted :  I  have  nothing  to  ask 
from  him,  but  only  to  thank  him  for  all  the  excellence  that 


180  FORESHADOWS. 

adheres  to  me."  Notice,  my  dear  reader,  the  danger  of 
making  too  much  of  ceremony.  We  can  any  day  do  much 
more  ceremony  than  God  bids  us ;  but  we  cannot  any  day 
act  up  to  the  morality  that  God  requires  of  us.  It  is  very 
easy  to  fast  oftener  than  God  bids  us — to  pray  oftener 
than  God  requires  us,  but  it  is  very  difficult  indeed  to  act 
up  to  the  moral  requirements  that  God  places  upon  us. 
And  hence  the  tendency  is  to  think,  that  if  we  have  given 
God  an  excess  of  ceremony,  we  have  put  God,  as  it  were, 
into  our  books,  and  made  him  debtor  to  us,  not  us  debtors  to 
him.  Here  lies  the  whole  danger,  then,  of  looking  too  much 
to  the  ceremony,  and  too  little  to  the  moral;  too  much  to  the 
ritual,  and  too  little  to  the  spiritual.  But  the  truth  is,  excess 
of  ceremony  is  not  exceeding  what  God  requires ;  it  is  po- 
sitively dishonouring  God,  and  disobeying  what  God  en- 
joins ;  because  if  God  has  appointed  so  much  ceremony, 
and  if  we  do  more,  the  answer  may  be  heard  from  the  Bible, 
if  not  in  word,  by  our  hearts,  "Who  hath  required  this  at 
thy  hands?"  God  has  given  two  sacraments,  and  if  we 
make  seven,  it  is  as  much  as  to  say,  "  God's  wisdom  was 
not  wise  enough  to  know  what  was  best,  nor  his  goodness 
large  enough  to  prescribe  what  was  most  conducive  to  our 
progress.  Therefore  we  will  eke  out  what  God  has  failed 
to  do,  and  mend  his  prescriptions,  by  our  greater  and 
richer  wisdom."  Besides,  if  the  moral  character  is  defec- 
tive, the  ceremonial  becomes  hateful  in  the  sight  of  God. 
He  tells  us  so  himself.  In  the  first  chapter  of  Isaiah  we 
read,  "  To  what  purpose  is  the  multitude  of  sacrifices  unto 
me  ?  saith  the  Lord.  I  am  full  of  the  burnt-offerings  of 
rams,  and  the  fat  of  fed  beasts ;  and  I  delight  not  in  the 
blood  of  bullocks,  or  of  lambs,  or  of  he-goats.  When  ye 
come  to  appear  before  me,  who  hath  required  this  at  your 
hand,  to  tread  my  courts  ?  Bring  no  more  vain  oblations ; 
incense  is  an  abomination  unto  me ;  the  new  moons  and 


THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  181 

the  sabbaths,  the  calling  of  assemblies,  I  cannot  away 
with ;  it  is  an  iniquity,  even  the  solemn  meeting.  Your 
new  moons  and  your  appointed  feasts  my  soul  hateth : 
they  are  a  trouble  unto  me ;  I  am  weary  to  bear  them. 
And  when  ye  spread  forth  your  hands,  I  will  hide  mine 
eyes  from  you :  yea,  when  ye  make  many  prayers,  I  will 
not  hear  :  your  hands  are  full  of  blood.  Wash  you,  make 
you  clean ;  put  away  the  evil  of  your  doing  from  before 
mine  eyes ;  cease  to  do  evil,  and  learn  to  do  well.  Seek 
judgment,  relieve  the  oppressed,  judge  the  fatherless, 
plead  for  the  widow." 

But  with  respect  to  the  special  virtue  that  the  Pharisee 
prided  himself  upon,  I  may  notice  what  must  suggest  itself 
to  our  common  sense,  that  the  fasting  (and  it  must  be  true 
of  it,  if  it  be  true  of  the  Sabbath)  was  made  for  man,  and 
not  man  for  the  fasting.  If  fasting  means  (as  I  believe 
it  does  not  always  mean  throughout  the  New  Testament, 
and  indeed  rarely  means  alone)  abstinence  from  food, 
many  of  the  poor  in  every  land,  we  regret  to  feel,  are 
fasting  every  day.  Certainly  of  the  rich  we  would  say, 
if  they  would  eat  and  drink  moderately,  they  would  act 
more  in  the  spirit  of  fasting,  than  by  fasting  rigidly  in 
Lent,  in  order  that  they  may  feast  luxuriously  all  the 
rest  of  the  year.  Temperance  in  all  things  seems  to  me 
to  be  the  right  thing.  But  if  any  find  fasting  conducive 
to  their  spiritual  progress,  by  all  means  fast,  but  do  not 
pride  yourselves  upon  and  trust  in  it :  though  I  think 
it  too  generally  happens  that  the  people  who  are  the 
greatest  advocates  of  fasting  are  not  the  worst  practisers 
of  feasting.  It  has  been  almost  a  law,  that  Carnival  and 
Lent  play  at  see-saw,  and  that  the  one  is  uppermost  ever 
as  the  other  is  down ;  that  abstinence  from  wine  means, 
very  often,  addictedness  to  something  else ;  and  all  is 
fitted  to  darken  and  obscure  that  noble  principle  which, 

'  II.    SER.  16 


182  FORESHADOWS. 

like  the  law  of  gravitation  in  the  physical  world,  binds  all 
into  harmony  and  order.  "  Whatsoever  ye  do,  whether 
ye  eat  or  drink,  do  all  to  the  glory  of  God."  If  any  man 
wishes  to  fast,  let  me  prescribe  a  diet — not  from  the  Lenten 
pastorals  that  we  sometimes  hear  from  Romish  bishops 
throughout  Europe,  but  from  a  pastoral,  the  authority  of 
which  we  all  admit.  "Is  it  such  a  fast  that  I  have  chosen  ? 
a  day  for  a  man  to  afflict  his  soul  ?  Is  it  to  bow  down  his 
head  as  a  bulrush,  and  to  spread  sackcloth  and  ashes 
under  him  ?  Wilt  thou  call  this  a  fast,  and  an  acceptable 
day  to  the  Lord  ?  Is  not  this  the  fast  that  I  have  chosen? 
to  loose  the  bands  of  wickedness,  to  undo  the  heavy  bur- 
dens, and  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free,  and  that  ye  break 
every  yoke  ?  Is  it  not  to  deal  thy  bread  to  the  hungry, 
and  that  thou  bring  the  poor  that  are  cast  out  to  thy 
house  ?  when  thou  seest  the  naked,  that  thou  cover  him ; 
and  that  thou  hide  not  thyself  from  thine  own  flesh? 
Then  shall  thy  light  break  forth  as  the  morning,  and  thine 
health  shall  spring  forth  speedily,  and  thy  righteousness 
shall  go  before  thee;  the  glory  of  the  Lord  shall  be  thy 
rereward."  If  Tractarians  would  fast  in  this  style,  and 
Romanists  too,  they  would  be  a  blessing  to  the  country ; 
but  merely  starving  themselves,  without  giving  more  to 
the  needy  and  the  destitute,  is  only  to  fast  pharisaically, 
and  to  lay  up  a  fund  of  imaginary  self-righteousness,  on 
which  leaning,  they  will  find  themselves  leaning  on  a 
broken  reed. 

Not  only  did  this  Pharisee  say,  "I  fast  twice  in  the 
week,"  but  he  also  said,  "I  give  tithes  of  all  that  I  pos- 
sess." Here  again  was  the  same  self-righteous  spirit. 
He  gave  excess  of  fasting  in  order  to  make  God  his 
debtor,  and  he  gives  excess  of  tithes  for  the  very  same 
object.  The  tithes  under  the  Levitical  law  were  to  be 
tithes  of  the  fruit  of  the  field,  of  the  product  of  all  the 


THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  183 

earth,  and  of  the  product  of  the  cattle ;  but  he  gave 
tithes  of  mint  and  anise-seed,  and  the  "lesser  matters;" 
not  because  the  temple  needed  it,  but  because  he  wished 
to  be  set  down  and  celebrated  throughout  the  land  as  a 
devout  and  distinguished  ecclesiastic.  It  was  not  his 
piety  that  made  him  give  so  much  tithe,  but  it  was  purely 
and  simply  pretension.  It  was  not  zeal  for  the  glory  of 
God,  but  zeal  for  his  own  eclat.  And  the  excess  of  tithe 
that  he  gave  was,  probably,  as  our  Lord  himself  has  war- 
ranted us  to  conclude,  derived  from  the  plundering  of  the 
widow  and  the  orphan,  that  he  might  add  to  the  splendour 
of  the  temple,  and  gather  round  himself  the  eclat,  the 
honour  and  applause  which  a  devout  pietist  expected  to 
realize. 

Such,  then,  is  the  picture  of  the  Pharisee :  I  have 
sketched  it  plainly,  simply,  and  freely.  Now  the  question 
arises  from  this  part  of  my  subject,  Is  the  race  of  the 
Pharisees  extinct  ?  Are  they  like  those  fossil  remains  of 
Saurian  tribes  that  we  have  to  go  to  museums  and  antiqua- 
ries' cabinets  to  inspect  ?  Does  it  require  a  Layard  to  dig 
up  the  remains  of  the  Pharisee  ?  I  fear  not.  They  are 
everywhere.  They  are  in  every  country,  in  every  church ; 
they  are  in  every  rank,  in  every  sect.  It  is  the  party  we 
all  abhor,  and  yet  it  is  a  party  that  prevails  as  much 
among  us  as  the  publicans  themselves.  Let  me  show  who 
the  Pharisees  are,  and  let  me  speak  honestly  and  faithfully. 

There  is  the  Pharisee  in  the  pulpit ;  and  I  quote  my 
proof  of  it  from  our  Lord's  words,  "  They  sit  in  Moses' 
seat," — that  is,  the  place  of  teaching,  the  place  of  instruc- 
tion. Now  with  such  a  man  in  modern  times,  what  he 
wears  is  far  more  than  what  he  is ;  what  he  inherits  by 
lineal  succession  is  far  more  precious  than  what  he  speaks 
of  the  gospel  to  the  people.  With  him  the  kingdom  of 
God  is  meat  and  drink,  a  rubric,  a  ritual,  a  canon ;  not 


184  FORESHADOWS. 

righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy.  The  ahlest  minister, 
according  to  his  definition,  is  the  most  accomplished  master 
of  the  ceremonies.  He  that  can  make  the  most  graceful 
genuflexion  at  the  altar  is  a  better  minister  than  he  who 
can  make  the  most  gracious  prostration  of  his  heart  before 
the  heart-searching  God.  With  such  a  one  Christianity 
was  made  for  the  church.  The  church  was  made  for  his 
party,  and  his  party  was  made  for  himself.  Thus  he  is  a 
Pharisee  in  the  pulpit.  But,  because  there  are  Pharisees 
in  the  pulpit,  do  not  suppose  there  are  no  Pharisees  in  the 
pew.  Our  Lord  says  there  are.  "  They  love  the  chief 
places  in  the  synagogues,  (that  is,  in  the  church,)  and  to 
pray  standing  in  the  presence  of  men,  and  they  disfigure 
their  faces."  Such  a  one  has  a  creed  and  conduct  all 
beautiful  on  Sunday,  but  reversed  and  contradicted  by 
every  action  on  the  Monday.  He  is  every  thing  that  is 
perfect,  to  see  him  in  the  pew ;  he  is  every  thing  that  is 
dishonest  and  dishonourable  in  the  transactions  of  life. 
He  prays  beautifully  in  the  sanctuary ;  he  acts  badly  on 
the  Exchange.  He  sings  the  most  beautiful  psalms,  and 
leads  the  most  unholy,  sensual,  and  unrighteous  life.  He 
gives  liberally  to  the  collection  at  the  church  door,  puts 
down  his  name  for  a  thousand  pounds  to  the  building 
of  a  new  church ;  and  he  starves  his  relatives,  pays  badly 
those  that  are  employed  by  him,  and  lives  meanly  and 
ignobly  himself.  He  is  anxious  only  that  he  should  have 
the  glory  of  the  devout  Pharisee,  not  that  he  should  have 
the  grandeur  of  the  true  Christian  and  consistent  man. 

If  there  be  the  Pharisee  in  the  pulpit,  there  is  also  the 
Pharisee  in  the  state.  Do  not  suppose  that  churches 
only  have  hypocrites,  or  that  pulpits  only  have  pharisaic 
ministers.  There  are  Pharisees  in  every  parliament,  the 
purest  that  ever  sat,  and  among  all  statesmen,  the  best 
that  ever  legislated  for  the  welfare  of  the  country.  They 


THE    TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  185 

show  themselves  by  flattering  the  people,  in  order  to  secure 
their  support.  They  are  the  desperate  enemies  of  office 
when  they  are  out  of  it ;  they  are  the  eloquent  advocates 
of  office  when  they  are  in  it.  They  court  the  people  to- 
day, to  get  their  votes ;  they  court  the  greatest  rank  to- 
morrow, in  order  to  get  their  countenance.  Patriotism  is 
the  talk,  place  is  really  the  pursuit;  and  the  service  of 
the  country  means  the  service  of  themselves.  Our  Lord, 
speaking  of  them,  says,  "  They  bind  heavy  burdens,  and 
grievous  to  be  borne,  and  lay  them  on  men's  shoulders; 
but  they  themselves  will  not  move  them  with  one  of  their 
fingers." 

But  there  is  also  the  Pharisee  in  the  shop,  in  trade,  in 
business.  We  read,  that  they  "love  greetings  in  the 
market-place.'"  Such  a  one  will  mix  sacred  truths  with 
his  business.  He  will  manifest  his  Christianity  in  his 
words,  because  he  is  certain  it  will  never  be  manifested  in 
the  purity  of  his  actions.  He  will  tell  you  when  he  is  sell- 
ing that  his  whole  object  is  to  serve  you,  not  himself;  as 
you  are  a  good  man,  you  shall  have  the  article  cheaper 
than  any  other  man.  He  will  tell  you  it  has  every  ex- 
cellence in  the  world,  and  will  conceal  and  disguise  all  its 
faults  ;  and  that  he  is  selling  it  you  at  cost  price,  because 
you  are  a  Christian. 

But  do  not  suppose  it  is  the  poor  tradesman  only  that 
is  the  Pharisee.  There  are  Pharisees  also  among  pur- 
chasers. They  come  in  and  offer  the  tradesman  half  of 
what  he  asks,  thus  tempting  him  to  ask  double  what  the 
article  is  worth  ;  and  having  teased  and  tormented  him 
till  he  is  worn  out,  instead  of  buying  the  article,  and  giving 
what  is  just,  liberal,  and  fair,  they  give  him  a  tract  upon 
tricks  in  trade,  and  tell  him  what  Christianity  bids  and 
forbids.  What  is  this  but  the  Pharisee  among  purchasers, 

16* 


186  FORESHADOWS. 

just  as  you  have  the  Pharisee  among  sellers,  loving  greet- 
ings in  the  market-place  ? 

We  have  also  the  Pharisee  in  the  press.  The  public 
press,  I  rejoice  to  know,  has  much  that  is  good  in  it.  Our 
Lord,  in  every  case,  showed  and  detected  the  Pharisee, 
and  he  did  so  without  personality.  He  spoke  of  character, 
of  conduct  in  the  man,  not  of  character  in  any  one  in- 
dividual. Thus  I  refer  to  the  Pharisee  in  the  press,  who 
professes  to  have  nothing  but  honour  and  truth  to  pro- 
mote, but  who  has  really  only  a  party  to  promote ;  who 
professes  to  be  actuated  by  the  noblest  of  all  patriotic 
principles,  but  will  take  care  to  calumniate,  abuse,  and 
turn  to  ridicule  all  who  differ  from  him,  and  magnify  and 
eulogize  all  who  subscribe  to  his  paper,  support  his  party, 
and  trumpet  forth  his  own  peculiar  principles. 

The  last  I  will  notice,  is  the  Pharisee  at  the  fireside. 
Such  a  one  is  full  of  liberality  and  philanthropy — of  large 
and  generous  feelings  at  the  club,  in  the  coterie,  and  in 
public  societies ;  but  when  he  goes  home  he  is  sour,  ill- 
tempered,  morose,  and  quarrels  with  his  wife,  and  is  satis- 
fied with  nothing.  He  has  family  worship  morning  and 
evening,  and  he  rises  from  his  knees  to  exact  the  utmost 
from  his  servants,  to  whom  he  pays  the  least  possible  for 
their  labour ;  and  while  he  is  all  ritually  and  externally 
beautiful  and  Christian-like,  he  is  in  heart  mean,  harsh, 
morose,  ungenerous,  and  unjust.  Pharisees  are  not  ex- 
tinct. They  exist  in  the  nineteenth  century,  as  they  ex- 
isted in  the  first.  It  is  human  nature,  and  human  nature 
in  its  worst  formula,  under  the  pretence  of  religion  and 
obedience  to  God. 

Why  do  I  give  these  distinctions  ?  First,  to  contradict 
an  assertion  that  is  often  made,  that  there  is  no  hypocrisy 
anywhere  upon  earth,  but  among  Christians.  You  will 
find  there  is  hypocrisy  everywhere,  wherever  wicked  men 


9  THE   TWO  WORSHIPPERS.  187 

are  anxious  to  promote  their  ends  and  schemes  under  the 
mask  of  the  excellence  or  the  virtue  that  is  current. 
"Hypocrisy,"  some  one  has  well  said,  "  is  the  homage  that 
vice  pays  to  virtue."  And  if  you  find  that  men  will  pre- 
tend to  be  honest,  in  order  to  do  dishonest  things,  alike  in 
the  court,  the  camp,  the  parliament,  and  the  market,  is  it 
not  in  accordance  with  this  great  and  wide  analogy,  that 
you  should  find,  even  in  the  house  of  God,  men  making  re- 
ligion a  passport  to  profit,  and  pretending  piety  in  order 
to  enrich  and  benefit  themselves?  It  is  as  unjust  to  de- 
nounce Christianity  because  there  are  hypocrites  in  it,  as 
it  is  to  denounce  honesty  because  there  are  thieves  who 
pretend  to  be  honest  in  order  to  steal,  or  to  denounce  the 
oak  because  the  parasite  ivy  grows  upon  it,  strangles  it, 
and  feeds  upon  its  strength.  Remarkable  it  is,  that  not 
one  sin  was  so  denounced  by  the  Lord  as  Pharisaism  and 
hypocrisy.  To  the  woman  caught  in  adultery,  he  was  pure 
and  holy,  but  compassionate  and  sin-forgiving.  The  poor 
publican  and  sinner  was  treated  with  mercy,  and  found 
acceptance.  The  greatest  criminals,  coming  from  their 
crimes  to  seek  forgiveness  and  new  hearts,  were  welcomed; 
but  as  to  the  Pharisee,  we  see  in  the  twenty-third  chapter 
of  St.  Matthew  the  awful  denunciations  of  our  blessed  Lord 
upon  them,  who  made  the  outside  of  the  platter  clean, 
while  the  inside  was  full  of  corruption.  ""Wo  to  you, 
scribes  and  Pharisees!"  "They  bind  heavy  burdens, 
grievous  to  be  borne,  and  lay  them  on  men's  shoulders, 
but  they  themselves  will  not  move  them  with  one  of  their 
fingers."  "  They  love  the  uppermost  rooms  at  feasts,  and 
the  chief  seats  in  synagogues,  and  greetings  in  the  markets, 
and  to  be  called  of  men,  Rabbi."  "Ye  devour  widow's 
houses,  and  for  a  pretence  make  long  prayers ;  therefore 
ye  shall  receive  the  greater  damnation."  To  the  very 
close  of  the  chapter,  our  Lord  denounces  the  most  awful 


188  FORESHADOWS.  * 

woes  upon  them,  which  shows  clearly  and  plainly  that 
hypocrisy  is  one  of  the  greatest  and  vilest  of  sins.  The 
cure  for  it  is  to  be  real.  Shrink  from  mere  pretension ; 
it  has  neither  power  nor  permanency.  Rather  be  de- 
scribed as  not  so  Christian,  than  try  to  appear  more  Chris- 
tian than  you  actually  are.  In  other  words,  be,  not  seem. 
Be  better  than  you  look,  rather  than  look  better  than  you 
are.  The  world  itself  respects  sincerity,  and  detests  (for 
it  has  light  enough  left  for  this)  hypocrisy,  and  sham,  and 
pretension. 

Recollect  that  nothing  brings  greater  discredit  on  the 
gospel,  than  Pharisaism  and  hypocrisy.  I  do  not  say  the 
world's  verdict  is  just ;  but  it  is  a  fact,  that  when  a  loud 
professor,  who  has  made  great  pretensions,  commits  some 
great  sin,  and  is  caught,  the  world  does  not  blame  the  sin- 
ner because  it  lives  in  similar  sins,  though  it  does  not  so 
openly;  but  it  casts  discredit  on  that  blessed  gospel  which 
the  man  has  made  a  passport  to  his  wickedness.  I  do  not 
say  that  the  world  is  just,  or  that  there  is  any  logical  con- 
nection between  the  two  things ;  but  it  is  a  matter  of  fact, 
of  which  you  are  all  cognizant,  that  when  a  great  professor 
falls,  it  is  not  he  that  is  visited  with  punishment,  but  it  is 
the  religion  that  he  made  his  tool  that  suffers  shame  and 
discouragement  in  the  world. 

In  the  next  place,  in  order  to  avoid  any  thing  of  this 
kind,  ever  realize  this,  "Thou  God  seest  me."  Just  know, 
that  if  you  would  not  cheat  your  fellow-men,  or  try  to  do 
so,  in  what  they  can  easily  detect,  that  you  can  never 
deceive  God.  God's  eye  is  as  much  upon  every  man's 
individual  heart,  and  motive,  and  aim,  and  end,  as  if  God 
and  that  man  were  the  only  twain  in  the  whole  created 
universe.  Let  us  never  forget,  in  all  places,  "  Thou  God 
seest  me."  Write  it  on  your  shops,  write  it  on  your  led- 
gers, write  it  on  your  counters.  It  might  be  written  on 


THE   TWO  WORSHIPPERS.  189 

the  parliament,  and  on  the  statute  book.  It  may  be  written 
upon  the  press ;  or  rather,  which  is  still  better,  it  may  be 
engraved  by  the  Spirit  of  God  upon  each  individual  heart, 
"Thou  God  seest  me." 

In  the  next  place,  be  a  Christian,  then  you  never  can 
be  a  hypocrite.  Seek  the  Holy  Spirit  to  make  you  Chris- 
tians ;  and  you  never  can  consent  to  be  Pharisees.  What 
is  wanted  is  not  a  pure  creed,  nor  mere  orthodox  preach- 
ing, precious  as  these  are  in  their  place,  but  it  is  life.  The 
great  want  of  the  age  is  not  liberty,  nor  change  of  sect, 
nor  change  of  form,  nor  change  of  party;  but  the  great 
want  is  life.  The  gospel  is  divine  life,  not  simply  an  or- 
thodox creed.  There  is  plenty  of  theology  among  us; 
there  is  but  too  little  of  religion.  There  is  abundance  of 
light,  but  deficiency  of  life  in  the  midst  of  us. 

Lastly,  bear  this  in  your  recollection:  no  outward  act 
can  ever  compensate  for  deficiency  of  inward  purity.  Be- 
gin always  at  the  centre,  and  work  toward  the  circumfe- 
rence. Get  the  process  of  reform  in  the  individual  heart, 
and  it  will  soon  embrace  church  and  state  together.  Let 
us  lay  one  brick  upon  earth,  rather  than  build  a  thousand 
castles  in  the  air.  Let  us  present  to  our  country,  and  to 
our  God,  one  sanctified  heart,  and  we  shall  have  done  more 
than  if  we  had  written  a  thousand  pamphlets,  and  made  a 
thousand  speeches,  for  reform  in  church  and  state.  Never 
forget  that  each  Christian  is  a  contribution  to  the  strength, 
the  stability,  the  grandeur,  the  beauty  of  the  empire  in 
which  he  lives.  This  great  change  that  we  need,  no  sacra- 
ment can  make,  no  rite  or  ceremony  can  produce,.  We 
can  only  be  justified  by  the  righteousness  of  Jesus — a 
righteousness  without  us,  and  sanctified  by  the  Spirit  of 
'Jesus — a  righteousness  within  us;  and  if  so  justified  and 
so  sanctified,  the  pride  of  the  Pharisee  will  give  place  to 
the  humility  of  the  publican,  and  we  shall  enjoy  the  repose 


190  FORESHADOWS. 

and  peace  of  the  true  Christian.  Let  the  open  brow  of  the 
preacher  be  his  noblest  mitre ;  let  his  faithful  preaching 
be  his  illuminated  text.  Let  a  holy  life  in  every  one  be 
his  broad  and  best  phylactery.  Let  us  feel  that  our  temple 
is  all  space,  that  our  ritual  is  holy  action,  that  our  worship 
is  not  form  nor  ceremony,  but  spirit  and  truth ;  and  that 
the  holiest  chancel  that  God  dwells  in,  is  the  chancel  of  a 
sanctified  and  holy  heart. 

So  shall  we  realize  within  us  that  pure  worship,  and 
those  holy  worshippers,  who  shall  crowd  the  millennial 
temples,  and  adore  and  worship  purely  and  perpetually  in 
the  presence  of  God  and  the  Lamb. 


191 


LECTURE   XIII. 

THE   TWO    WORSHIPPERS. 

Two  men  went  up  into  the  temple  to  pray;  the  one  a  Pharisee,  and  the  other  a 
publican.  The  Pharisee  stood  and  prayed  thus  with  himself,  God,  I  thank 
thec,  that  I  am  not  as  other  men  are,  extortioners,  unjust,  adulterers,  or  even 
as  this  publican.  I  fast  twice  in  the  week,  I  give  tithes  of  all  that  I  possess. 
And  the  publican,  standing  afar  off,  would  not  lift  up  so  much  as  his  eyes  unto 
*  heaven,  but  smote  upon  his  breast,  saying,  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner. 
I  tell  you,  this  man  went  down  to  his  house  justified  rather  than  the  other : 
for  every  one  that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  abased :  and  he  that  humbleth 
himself  shall  be  exalted. — LUKE  xviii.  10-14. 

IN  my  last  I  endeavoured  to  depict  the  character  of  the 
Pharisee.  I  stated  that  two  men  go  into  the  same  sanc- 
tuary, with  different  characters,  different  motives,  different 
designs.  The  one  that  is  the  least  dutiful  before  man,  may 
seem  the  most  so  before  God ;  arid  the  one  who  has  least  to 
catch  the  admiration  of  the  crowd,  may  have  in  his  heart 
that  which  conciliates  the  approval  of  God. 

Two  classes  come  to  every  congregation;  one,  like  the 
Pharisee,  to  parade  its  excellencies,  and  to  glory  in  them ; 
the  other,  like  the  publican,  to  enumerate  its  sins,  and  to 
seek  forgiveness  for  them. 

We  read  that  the  Pharisee,  when  he  prayed,  stood  and 
prayed  thus  with  himself.  I  mentioned  to  you  that  "with 
himself"  belongs  to  standing,  and  not  to  praying.  It  does 
not  mean  that  he  prayed  secretly  to  himself,  but  that  he 
stood  separate,  alone,  and  distinct  by  himself,  in  order  that 
nobody  might  fail  to  see  him,  and  prayed  aloud  in  the  words 
which  are  here  recorded.  I  mentioned  this  as  one  of  the 


192  FORESHADOWS. 

characteristics  of  the  Pharisees :  they  did  all  their  good 
deeds — if  such  they  were — to  be  seen  of  men ;  they  prided 
themselves  upon  their  holiness ;  they  said,  to  every  one  else, 
"Stand  aside.  Don't  touch  me;  I  am  holier  than  thou." 
This  man,  -when  he  prayed,  prayed — and  here  is  the  point 
of  contrast  with  the  character  in  which  the  publican  prayed 
— simply  as  a  Pharisee.  He  insisted  upon  being  saved  as 
a  Pharisee,  or  not  being  saved  at  all.  He  required  to  be 
borne  to  heaven  with  his  phylactery  wrapped  around  him, 
or  he  would  rather  remain  upon  the  earth.  Like  many 
other  persons  still :  one  will  be  saved  only  as  a  man  of 
genius ;  another  will  be  saved  as  a  man  of  rank ;  another 
as  a  rich  man.  God  will  not  save  you  as  rich,  renowned, . 
or  wise ;  he  will  save  you  simply  as  sinners.  We  must  ap- 
proach God  not  with  the'  learning  of  the  scholar,  or  with 
the  robe  of  the  Pharisee,  or  with  pretensions  of  any  class 
or  condition  whatever.  We  must  approach  him  as  sinners, 
or  he  will  not  treat  or  deal  with  us  at  all. 

The  Pharisee  thanked  God;  he  began  his  prayer  with 
thanksgiving.  There  was  nothing  wrong  in  that,  though 
it  seems  more  appropriate  in  the  sinner  to  begin  with  con- 
fession. He  thanked  God  he  was  not  as  other  men.  Here 
his  character  broke  out.  He  drew  a  comparison,  not  be- 
tween himself  and  God's  holy  will,  which  would  have  hum- 
bled him,  but  he  measured  himself  by  other  men,  which, 
with  the  selfish  admiration  peculiar  to  the  sect,  made  his 
own  excellencies  resplendent  by  contrast  with  their  defects ; 
and  in  order  that  the  picture  of  himself  might  be  perfectly 
luminous,  he  brings  in  the  publican  as  the  background  on 
which  to  make  himself  stand  forth  rich  in  glory,  and  ar- 
rayed with  every  excellence:  "or  even  as  this  publican." 

Having  thus  stated,  negatively,  his  character,  he  states 
what  it  is  positively:  "I  fast  twice  in  the  week."  God 
required  him  to  fast  only  once  a  year,  but  the  Pharisee 


THE    TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  193 

argued,  "  If  fasting  be  so  good  that  God  requires  it  once 
a  year,  I  will  fast  twice  a  week.  I  will  thus  have  a  claim 
upon  God ;  I  will  put  God  in  my  books  ;  he  shall  be  debtor, 
and  I  am  determined  to  be  creditor."  Here  is  the  secret 
peril  of  too  much  ceremony.  It  is  very  easy  to  pay  God 
double  the  ceremony  that  he  requires,  but  you  never  can 
pay  God  up  to  the  morality  that  he  requires.  Hence  it 
happens  that  when  a  man  has  exceeded  God's  requirement 
in  his  ceremonial  doings,  he  becomes  self-righteous,  and 
fancies  that  he  is  spotless.  Whereas  God  requires  mercy 
rather  than  sacrifice,  and  a  holy  life  in  preference  to  a 
splendid  ceremonial. 

"I  fast  twice  in  the  week."  I  explained  what  was  the 
worth  of  fasting,  and  I  told  you  that  it  generally  happens 
that  the  advocates  of  fasting  in  the  seasons  which  are,  as 
they  say,  canonical,  are  the  greatest  patrons  of  feasting 
in  the  seasons  which  they  chalk  off  and  pronounce  to  be 
their  own.  Fasting  and  feasting,  Carnival  and  Lent,  in- 
terchange, and  act,  and  react  against  each  other ;  whereas 
it  seems  to  me,  if  fasting  be  conducive  to  our  spiritual 
good,  by  all  means  fast,  but  if  it  be  not  so,  then  you  are 
not  called  upon  to  fast.  The  fasting  is  for  man,  not  man 
for  the  fasting.  The  proper  course  would  be  always  to  be 
temperate  in  all  things,  to  let  your  moderation  be  known 
unto  all  men,  and  then  there  will  be  neither  feasting  nor 
fasting,  but  a  sober,  just,  and  righteous  life. 

Then  he  says  also,  "I  give  tithes  of  all  that  I  possess." 
Here  again  he  states  his  merit,  as  if  God  were  his  debtor. 
God  required  tithes  only  of  great  things ;  of  the  first- 
fruits  of  cattle,  and  the  first-fruits  of  the  field ;  but  he 
says,  "I  give  tithes  of  all  that  I  possess" — not  so  much 
for  the  maintenance  of  the  temple,  as  for  the  explanation, 
and  the  expression  of  his  own  self-righteousness :  "I  give 
tithes  of  all  that  I  possess." 


194  FORESHADOWS. 

I  then  described  the  Phariseee  in  different  circumstances 
of  life ;  in  different  spheres,  capacities,  and  characters ; 
and  showed  that  the  race  is  not  obsolete ;  that  they  need 
not  to  be  dug  out  of  buried  ceremonial ;  that  they  exist  in 
all  lands,  in  all  circumstances,  in  all  places. 

We  now  come  to  the  contrast,  namely,  the  publican. 
"And  the  publican,  standing  afar  off,  would  not  lift  up 
so  much  as  his  eyes  unto  heaven,  but  smote  upon  his  breast, 
saying,  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  The  afar  off 
here  relates,  not  so  much  to  his  distance  from  God — though 
so  he  stood,  but  it  relates  more  to  his  distance  from  the 
holy  place,  where  God  dwelt  between  the  cherubim.  The 
Pharisee  stood  before  the  holy  place,  displaying  all  his 
righteousness,  feeling  that  he  was  entitled  to  draw  near, 
and  claim  approbation  for  what  he  had  done  ;  but  in  a 
distant  nook  of  the  temple,  in  some  remote,  dark,  and 
despised  corner  of  it,  the  poor  publican  stood,  not  by  him- 
self, like  the  Pharisee,  but  wherever  he  could  get  a  foot- 
ing, and  lifted  up  to  God  the  beautiful  petition,  "  God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  The  publican  had  no  acceptance 
with  man,  but  he  had,  clearly,  acceptance  with  God.  He 
stood  far  from  the  holy  place ;  he  stood  near  and  dear 
to  the  holy  God.  The  Pharisee  retired  amid  the  hosannas 
of  the  crowd  ;  the  publican  retired  with  the  approbation 
and  the  acceptance  of  his  God. 

Far  off,  however,  is  really  the  proper  description  of  the 
state  of  man  by  nature.  What  has  sin  done  to  him  ?  It 
has  borne  him  far  off  from  God.  Sin  has  made  a  chasm 
between  God  and  man  ;  it  is  the  rending,  the  splitting,  the 
separating  element.  Wherever  there  is  sin,  there  is  dis- 
union ;  wherever  there  is  love,  there  is  the  bond  of  union 
and  communion ;  man  with  God,  and  man  with  his  fellow. 
The  publican  felt  that  sin  was  a  separating  element.  lie 
shrunk,  from  a  sense  of  his  own  unworthiness,  from  coming 


THE   TWO  WORSHIPPERS.  195 

into  the  immediate  presence  of  the  holy,  holy,  holy  Lord 
God  of  hosts ;  and  if  we  see  our  sins  as  God  sees  them, 
•we  shall  shrink  too.  It  is  perhaps  well  we  do  not  see 
ourselves  absolutely  as  we  are,  as  God  sees  us.  It  is  well, 
perhaps,  that  our  eye  should  rest  more  upon  his  infinite 
mercy  in  Jesus,  less  upon  our  innumerable  demerits  ;  lest, 
resting  on  the  latter,  we  should  be  plunged  into  despair, 
and  fancy  that  there  is  no  efficacy  in  the  blood  of  Jesus, 
and  in  the  love  of  God,  to  blot  them  all  out. 

It  is  said,  of  the  publican,  he  would  not  so  much  as  lift 
up  his  eyes  unto  heaven.  The  Pharisee  lifted  up  his  eyes 
and  his  hands  too.  It  was  frequently  the  practice  among 
the  Jews,  when  they  prayed,  to  lift  up  their  hands.  Thus 
the  apostle,  writing  to  Timothy,  says,  "  Men  lift  up  holy 
hands."  Thus  it  is  recorded  of  Solomon,  that  he  stood 
and  prayed,  and  lifted  up  his  hands  unto  God.  The  Pha- 
risee lifted  up  his  eyes  in  conscious  pride,  and  spread  out 
his  hands,  as  if  he  could  pluck  a  blessing  from  God's 
throne  without  asking  God's  leave.  The  poor  publican 
stood  afar  off  from  the  holy  place,  not  daring  to  lift  up 
his  hands,  nor  even  his  eyes,  but,  like  a  contrite  sinner, 
smiting  on  his  breast,  where  the  sense  of  his  sin,  his  agony, 
and  his  separation  was,  seeking  from  God  mercy  and  for- 
giveness through  the  blood  of  Jesus. 

I  have  sinned  against  heaven  and  in  thy  sight,  was  his 
thought,  if  not  his  language ;  I  am  not  worthy  of  the  least 
of  thy  mercies,  therefore  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner." 
There  may  be  outward  deportment  on  the  part  of  the 
worshipper  which  is  hypocrisy,  and  nothing  is  more  offen- 
sive to  man,  or  more  sinful  in  the  sight  of  God ;  but  at 
the  same  time  we  must  never  forget,  that  wherever  there 
is  deep  inward  devotion,  there  there  will  be  no  outward 
appearance  of  insensibility,  irreverence,  or  indifference. 
We  are  so  constituted  that  the  body  responds  to  the  vo- 


196  FORESHADOWS. 

litions  of  the  mind,  and  as  the  mind  is,  the  outward  form 
and  expression  frequently  become.  And  yet  the  deepest 
current  of  feeling  is  always  the  least  noisy ;  where  there 
is  the  purest  devotion,  there  there  is  the  least  pomp  and 
parade  ;  where  there  is  the  intensest  feeling  of  self-anni- 
hilation, and  a  seeking  of  mercy  from  God,  there  there 
will  be  the  least  attempt  to  be  seen  of  men.  Men  pray 
most  truly  when  they  recollect  that  there  is  nobody  pre- 
sent but  God  that  heareth,  and  seeth,  and  judgeth 
them. 

I  come  now,  after  noticing  the  approach  of  the  publican, 
to  his  petition,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  The 
Pharisee,  just  as  much  as  the  publican,  addressed  God. 
The  Pharisee  said,  "  God,  I  thank  thee  ;"  the  publican 
said,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  They  addressed 
the  same  name,  and  yet  very  different  beings.  The  one 
had  the  idea  of  God  as  a  being  that  connived  at  sin,  who 
had  special  favouritism  fer  the  Pharisees,  and  marked  re- 
probation for  the  publican,  in  short,  as  a  being  who  was 
charmed  with  gorgeous  ceremonial ;  who  could  be  propitiated 
by  the  purest  and  the  grandest  music  ;  who  was  charmed 
and  attracted,  not  by  a  holy  life,  but  by  holy  garments 
and  beautiful  robes.  The  publican,  again,  had  the  idea  of 
God  as  an  infinitely  holy  being,  who  hated  sin,  who  was 
its  consuming  fire  ;  who  could  not  be  approached  by  one 
who  was  resolved  to  cherish  sin  in  his  heart,  and  exhibit 
that  sin  in  his  life.  The  one,  therefore,  prayed  according 
to  his  definition  of  the  God  to  whom  he  prayed  ;  the  other 
prayed  according  to  the  deep  convictions  that  were  in  his 
heart  of  the  infinite  holiness  and  purity  of  that  Being. 

Both  prayed  to  God,  neither  of  them  prayed  to  angel, 
or  saint,  or  patriarch.  Fallen  as  the  Jews  were,  they 
never  were  guilty  of  this.  It  is  very  remarkable  that, 
apostate  as  the  Jewish  church  became,  they  yet  continued 


THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  197 

in  name,  and  in  theory  at  least,  to  recognise  the  God  of 
Israel  as  the  true  and  living  God. 

When  the  publican  prayed,  he  described  himself,  and 
described  himself  in  terms  very  short,  very  simple,  very 
expressive.  He  said,  "God  be  merciful  to  me,  a  sinner." 
Our  translation  here  is  defective.  It  is  not  in  the  original 
a  sinner,  but  "  0  0et>?,  ddaO-^ri  /JLOI  rfa  dnapTu>J.w ."  God  have 
mercy  upon  me,  tJie  sinner ;  as  if,  while  the  Pharisee  was 
contrasting  himself  with  the  publican,  and  pronouncing 
himself  the  righteous  man,  the  publican,  on  the  other  hand, 
was  contrasting  himself  with  the  best  and  worst  of  those 
around  him,  and  singling  himself  out  as  THE  sinful  man : 
Have  mercy  upon  me,  the  sinful  man.  As  if  he  had  said, 
"Others  maybe  eminent  for  their  excellence;  others  may 
be  characterized  by  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  and  just, 
and  lovely,  and  of  good  report.  I  pronounce  not  on  their 
demerits  ;  I  cannot  speak  of  their  excellencies  ;  but  this  I 
know,  that  I  am  so  shocked  with  the  revelation  of  my  own 
heart,  that  I  cannot  believe  there  is  anybody  besides  in  the 
universe  so  vile.  I  am  so  humbled  by  the  apocalypse  of  my 
own  soul,  that  while  others  give  catalogues  of  their  virtues, 
and  may  be  distinguished  by  them,  I  will  not  pronounce ; 
I  can  only  give  a  catalogue  of  my  sins,  and  sue  for  mercy 
without  money,  without  merit,  and  without  price." 

Thus  the  publican  presents  himself  here  as  the  sinner. 
This  too  is  the  character  in  which  we  are  to  present  our- 
selves before  God.  It  is  as  sinners  that  God  will  accept 
us,  blessed  be  his  name ;  it  is  as  sinners  that  we  may  ven- 
ture to  approach  him.  Never  let  go  this  great  idea,  that 
we  are  to  go  to  God,  and  we  are  welcome  to  God,  simply 
and  solely  in  the  character  of  sinners ;  sinners  seeking  to 
be  relieved  of  their  load;  sinners  anxious  to  avoid  the 
judgment  they  have  provoked;  sinners,  loving  God,  and 
hating  sin,  and  desirous  of  acceptance  with  God.  When 


198  FORESHADOWS. 

we  go  to  God,  it  is  not  because  of  any  worthiness  in  us  ; 
worthiness  in  man  is  incompatible  with  grace  in  God. 

We  are  not  to  wait  till  we  are  better  before  we  go  to 
God.  The  worse  the  disease,  the  more  instant  the  neces- 
sity for  a  physician ;  the  greater  the  sin,  the  greater  our 
need  of  forgiveness.  Sin,  suffered  to  remain,  grows  in 
strength,  and  spreads  like  the  spot  of  the  leper,  till  the 
whole  body  becomes  tainted  and  destroyed  with  it.  Along 
with  the  sense  of  sin  on  the  part  of  this  publican,  there 
was  evidently  a  great  sense  of  misery.  Wherever  sin  is 
felt  in  the  conscience,  there  its  sister,  or  its  eldest  child, 
misery,  gnaws,  corrodes,  and  rankles  in  the  heart.  The 
two  are  inseparable  :  sin  and  misery.  These  two  also  are 
twins  :  holiness  and  happiness.  We  cannot  get  out  of  the 
misery  without  getting  out  of  the  sin.  We  never  can 
breathe  the  air  of  happiness  without  first  breathing  the  air 
of  holiness. 

Mark,  in  the  next  place,  the  publican's  deep  humility. 
He  throws  himself  into  the  hands  of  God ;  pleads  nothing, 
promises  nothing,  palliates  nothing,  excuses  nothing ;  he 
cries  simply,  God  be  merciful  to  me  the  sinner ;  laid  low, 
like  Paul,  when  he  said,  "What  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?" 
or  like  the  jailer  of  Philippi,  when  he  said,  "Men  and  sirs, 
what  shall  I  do  to  be  saved?" — presenting  himself  a  great 
sinner  to  the  great  and  the  holy  God. 

Let  us  mark  what  kind  of  a  sinner  he  presents  himself. 
Not  as  a  reformed  sinner,  nor  yet  as  si  penitent  sinner,  nor 
yet  as  a  praying  sinner,  but  simply  as  the  sinner.  There 
is  great  importance  in  this.  We  do  not  go  to  God  and 
seek  mercy,  because  we  are  penitent  sinners,  or  because 
we  are  praying  sinners,  or  because  we  are  improving  sin- 
ners ;  but  we  go  to  God,  and  seek  mercy,  simply  for  our- 
selves as  sinners,  with  nothing  to  accompany  us,  nothing 
to  promise,  nothing  to  extenuate,  nothing  to  pledge. 


THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  199 

But  he  gave  evidence,  at  the  very  same  time  he  did  so, 
of  genuine  repentance.  He  felt  his  sin,  and  sorrowed  at 
it.  He  was  conscious  of  his  misery,  and  deplored  it.  The 
unhappiness  in  his  heart,  and  the  fever  in  his  conscience, 
and  the  conviction  that  he  had  both  grieved  and  vexed 
that  God  who  is  the  God  of  mercy  and  beneficence,  drove 
him  to  his  presence,  and  made  him.  supplicate  for  mercy. 

This  leads  us,  therefore,  to  look  at  what  he  asked: 
"God,"  he  said,  "be  merciful,"  or  have  mercy  upon  "me 
a  sinner."  He  does  not  ask  for  goodness.  That  is  shown 
to  the  unfallen ;  but  he  asks  for  mercy,  the  blessing  that 
is  needed  by  the  fallen.  The  reason  that  the  publican 
asked  it  perhaps  was  this,  that  he  had  learned  in  the  syna- 
gogue, in  infancy  and  childhood,  that  God  was  merciful ; 
and  those  practices  that  had  been  buried  by  the  rubbish 
that  had  accumulated  in  years,  those  recollections  that  had 
almost  faded  from  his  memory,  rushed  vividly  again  to  his 
recollection,  and  made  him  seek  for  that  mercy  which  he 
had  learned  of  old  was  still  with  God. 

How  important  is  early  Christian  instruction !  Let  the 
great  truths  of  the  gospel  be  early  rooted  in  the  hearts  of 
the  young.  They  may  go  astray  for  ten,  twenty,  or  thirty 
years ;  but  some  day,  when,  like  John  Newton,  they  are 
tossed  upon  the  restless  sea,  the  black  clouds  above,  and 
the  roaring  elements  around,  and  the  yawning  gulf  beneath, 
a  truth,  taught  by  a  mother,  or  dropped  by  a  teacher,  may 
suddenly  flash  into  the  mind,  and  be  the  turning  point  of 
their  everlasting  happiness.  This  publican  had  lived  a 
dissipated,  a  sinful,  and  a  wicked  life  ;  but  he  had  not  for- 
gotten, amid  all  his  alienation,  this  blessed  truth — that 
"the  Lord  is  merciful  and  gracious;  slow  to  anger,  and 
plenteous  in  mercy."  And  in  asking  mercy,  there  was 
embosomed  in  that  petition  an  asking  for  forgiveness : 
mercy  is  the  stem ;  forgiveness  is  the  flower  that  blooms 


200  FORESHADOWS. 

upon  it.     We  seek  mercy  in  order  to  realize  forgiveness ; 
and  we  seek  forgiveness  because  it  springs  from  mercy. 
How  striking  is  that  prayer  in  the  25th  Psalm,  "Pardon 
mine  iniquity,  for  it  is  great!"  where  the  greatness  of  our 
sins  is  a  plea  for  the  confession  to  God.     But  above  all, 
the  greatness  of  a  Saviour's  sacrifice  is  a  reason,   that 
never  can  be  disregarded,  why  the  greatest  sinner  should 
be  forgiven  of  God.    He  seeks  this  mercy  and  forgiveness 
from  God.     I  explained,  in  a  former  lecture,  as  one  of 
the  strongest  reasons  why  the  priest  or  minister  should  not 
be  able  to  forgive  sins,  that  the  Being  against  whom  only 
sin  can  be  committed,  is  the  only  Being  who  alone  can 
forgive  it.     Now  we  never  commit  sin  against  our  fellow- 
man.     We  injure  him,  we  vex  him,  we  plunder  him,  we 
hurt  him,  but  we  do  not  sin  against  him ;  we  sin  against 
God  only.      The  sin  that  is  pronounced  by  men  to  be 
against  man,  is  only  the  rebounding  of  the  sin  that  is  seen 
in  heaven  to  be  against  God.     Hence  David  said  literally, 
truly,  and  strictly, — using  no  figure  of  .speech, — "Against 
Thee  only  have  I  sinned,  and  done  evil  in  thy  sight."    He 
had  grieved  and  vexed  others,  injured  the  church,  disho- 
noured his  profession,  destroyed  life,  done  the  greatest 
crimes;    but  David  felt  that  the  sin  was  against  God, 
whereas  the  injury  only  was  committed  against  man. 

So  with  us ;  we  have  broken  a  law  that  was  not  made 
on  earth,  and  that  cannot  be  repealed  on  earth.  We  have 
sinned  against  God,  and  God  alone  can  forgive  the  sin. 
And  hence  to  man's  conscience,  ten  thousand  voices  sound- 
ing from  the  living,  or  rising  from  the  dead,  coming  from 
the  priest,  or  emerging  from  the  church,  cannot  convey  to 
his  heart  the  peace  and  the  repose  that  the  still  small 
voice  communicates — "  I,  even  I,  am  he  that  blotteth  out 
all  thine  iniquities,  and  remembcreth  thy  transgressions 
no  more  for  ever." 


THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  201 

But  there  is  an  interesting  question  that  naturally 
occurs  in  this  passage,  which  is,  Did  the  publican,  thus 
convinced  of  his  sins,  seek  from  God  absolute  and  uncon- 
ditional mercy?  How  does  it  happen,  we  naturally  in- 
quire, that  there  is  no  mention  of  a  Mediator,  a  Saviour, 
or  sacrifice  in  the  petition  ?  And  here  again  our  transla- 
tion is  not  full  enough.  The  translation  always  errs,  when 
it  errs,  on  the  safer  side;  it  rather  comes  short  than 
exceeds  the  meaning  of  God's  Avord.  Never  forget,  in 
reading  the  Bible,  that  the  strongest  language  used  in  our 
English  translation  never  exceeds,  but  always  comes  be- 
neath the  vigour,  the  force,  the  expressiveness  of  the 
original.  It  is  in  this  instance  especially  so.  The  Greek 
word  is  ddffOrjTc.  Everyone  that  knows  the  elements  of 
the  Greek  tongue  knows  that  this  word  means,  Have 
mercy  by  sacrifice,  or  more  strictly  and  properly  trans- 
lated, it  is,  God  make  atonement  for  me  a  sinner.  The 
literal  and  strict  translation  of  the  prayer  I  have  now 
read,  is  not,  God  be  merciful ;  but  it  is,  God  make  atone- 
ment for  me  a  sinner. 

Why  did  the  publican  use  this  form  of  speech  ?  He 
used  it  because  he  had  seen,  morning  and  evening,  the 
lamb  slain  as  the  daily  sacrifice ;  because  he  had  seen  this 
lamb  slain  once  a  year  as  the  Passover-lamb ;  because  he 
felt  and  knew  that  God  was  just  and  holy,  as  well  as 
merciful,  and  that  he  would  no  more  exercise  his  mercy 
irrespective  of  sacrifice,  than  he  could  exercise  his  justice 
or  holiness  in  forgiving  him.  Every  truth,  every  type, 
every  ceremony,  every  rite  among  the  Jews,  was  calcu- 
lated to  impress  upon  the  Israelites  this  great  lesson: 
"Without  shedding  of  blood  there  can  be  no  remission." 
Therefore  the  poor  publican  felt  that  all  the  bulls  and 
goats  that  could  be  slain,  could  not  take  away  his  sins ;  he 
felt  that  the  morning  and  evening  lamb  was  an  utterly 


202  FORESHADOWS. 

inadequate  atonement  for  him,  and  in  the  exercise  of  a 
faith  strong,  beautiful,  and  scriptural,  the  faith  of  Abra- 
ham, of  Isaac,  and  of  Jacob,  he  looked  through  the 
sacrifices  as  the  telescopes  that  helped  him  to  see  the  true 
sacrifice  of  the  lamb  of  God  slain  from  the  foundation  of 
the  world.  Therefore  he  cried,  in  the  agony  of  his  con- 
victions, 0  Lord !  the  sacrifices  I  have  are  utterly  inade- 
quate; I  cannot  place  my  trust  and  confidence  in  them ; 
do  thou  make  the  great,  the  promised  sacrifice  ;  give  .thy 
Son  to  be  a  propitiation  for  my  sins,  and  for  the  sins  of 
all  that  believe. 

And  here  again  we  are  taught  that  there  is  no  such 
thing  as  absolute  mercy.  Ask  mercy  from  God  in  any 
other  name,  or  through  any  other  channel,  or  without 
name  or  channel  at  all,  and  you  ask  the  descent  of  the 
consuming  fire.  Ask  mercy  and  forgiveness  in  the  name, 
and  through  the  mediation,  of  the  only  sacrifice  and 
Saviour,  and  God  may  be  untrue  to  his  word,  sooner  than 
fail  to  bestow  mercy  and  forgiveness  exceeding  abundantly 
above  all  that  you  can  ask,  or  think,  or  desire.  You  may 
ask,  perhaps,  Why  was  any  sacrifice  necessary  ?  This 
sacrifice  that  Christ  made  operated  no  change  upon  God. 
Many  persons  have  the  very  common,  but  very  erroneous 
notion,  that  by  the  death  of  Christ  something  was  changed 
on  the  part  of  God,  so  that  God  loves  them  he  otherwise 
hated,  and  pours  down  forgiveness  upon  them  whom  natu- 
rally and  of  his  own  mind  he  would  rather  have  crushed 
and  destroyed.  But  such  a  notion  as  this  proceeds  from 
the  supposition  that  God  is  liable  to  change,  that  he  is  not 
the  same  to-day  that  he  was  yesterday,  and  will  be  for 
ever.  No  such  change  has  been  effected  on  God ;  the 
change  is  needed  upon  us.  But  you  may  say,  why  could  not 
God  let  his  forgiving  mercy  descend  upon  us  without  such 
intervention  ?  I  answer,  because  justice  had  weighed  us 


THE    TWO    WORSHIPPERS.  203 

in  the  scales,  and  declared  that  we  were  wanting ;  God's 
truth  had  issued  the  accents,  irrevocable  as  God's  throne 
itself,  "  The  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die."  God's  holi- 
ness by  its  nature  cannot  admit  the  rebel  against  it,  and 
the  violator  of  it,  into  its  bosom.  Then  the  question  was, 
the  question  that  perplexed  all  but  the  wisdom  of  God, 
How  shall  God  continue  to  be  that  just  and  holy  God,  the 
true  God  that  he  has  been,  is,  and  must  be,  and  yet  forgive 
sinners  and  save  them  ?  The  answer  to  it  is  in  the  cross. 
The  solution  of  the  difficulty  is  in  the  death  of  Christ. 
Christ  bare  our  sins,  exhausted  our  curse,  obeyed  our  law, 
did  what  we  had  not  done,  suffered  what  we  should  have 
suffered,  and  now  God  can  look  upon  the  believer  just  as 
he  looks  upon  Christ  himself;  and  Christ  has  become  the 
mediator  between  God  and  man — the  channel  that  extends 
from  earth  to  the  skies,  sustained  by  the  justice,  the 
holiness,  and  truth  of  God,  and  down  which,  in  full  har- 
mony with  the  requirements  of  these  attributes  of  his 
nature,  God's  mercy  may  come  to  bless,  forgive,  and  do  us 
good.  Hence,  in  approaching  God,  we  may  not  only  ask 
mercy  in  the  name  of  Christ,  but  we  may  tell  him  that  the 
atonement  has  been  made  that  the  publican  required ;  we 
may  ask  him  now  to  be  faithful  and  just  to  forgive,  as  well 
as  to  be  merciful ;  for  we  are  told,  in  the  Epistle  of  John, 
"If  we  confess  our  sins,  God  is  faithful  and.  just  to  forgive 
us  our  sins."  In  other  words,  if  God  were  to  refuse  for- 
giveness to  a  poor  sinner  that  asks  that  forgiveness  in  the 
name  of  Jesus,  he  would  not  only  be  unmerciful,  but  he 
would  be  unjust,  he  would  be  untrue.  But  he  is  true  to 
his  promises,  he  is  just  in  his  dealings,  he  is  merciful  in 
his  forgiveness.  Thus  the  mercy  of  God  is  sustained  by 
those  attributes  that  are  the  pillars  of  the  universe,  and 
God  may  as  soon  cease  to  be,  as  cease  to  be  merciful  to 
the  sinner  that  seeks  mercy  in  the  name  and  through  the 


204  FORESHADOWS. 

merits  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  And  hence,  throughout 
the  whole  Bible,  the  great  difficulty,  apparently,  experi- 
enced by  the  sacred  penmen,  is  to  convince  sinners  that 
God  completely  forgives  sin.  We  judge  of  God  very 
much  by  ourselves.  Because  we  cannot  thoroughly  for- 
give an  offender,  we  conclude  that  God  does  not  thoroughly 
forgive  us.  But  his  language  is,  "Remission  of  sins." 
"  Sending  away  our  sins."  "Not  remembering  our  tres- 
passes." « Not  imputing  to  them  their  trespasses." 
"Casting  them  behind  his  back."  "Blotting  them  out 
like  a  cloud,  and  like  a  thick  cloud;"  till  the  prophet, 
overwhelmed  by  a  sense  of  the  magnitude  of  his  mercy, 
exclaims,  "  Who  is  a  God  like  unto  thee,  that  pardoneth 
iniquity,  and  passeth  by  the  transgression  of  the  remnant 
of  his  heritage  ?  he  retaineth  not  his  anger  for  ever,  be- 
cause he  delighteth  in  mercy." 

Thus,  then,  we  have  seen  the  Pharisee,  clothed  in  his 
self-righteous  robes,  draw  near  to  God  and  plead  his  cere- 
monial performances  as  the  ground  of  his  acceptance  be- 
fore him.  We  have  seen  the  publican,  on  the  other  hand, 
singling  himself  out  as  "the  sinner,"  signally  and  empha- 
tically so,  in  the  midst  of  that  temple,  drawing  near  to 
God,  while  standing  at  a  distance  from  the  holy  place,  and 
asking  of  him  mercy;  and  asking  that  mercy  not  because 
of  any  thing  he  was,  or  is,  or  could  be,  not  because  God 
had  promised  it,  but  obviously  on  the  ground  and  through 
the  merits  of  an  atonement  adequate  to  satisfy  the  justice 
of  God  and  the  necessities  of  man.  Then  it  is  beautifully 
added,  "One  went  down  justified  rather  than  the  other." 
The  Hebrews  very  often  expressed  comparatively  what  was 
an  absolute  negative ;  and  knowing  that  this  idiom  pre- 
vailed among  the  Jews,  the  sacred  writer  no  doubt  meant 
by  this  passage,  "the  one  went  down  justified,  and  the 
other  not."  .  I  have  no  doubt  that  there  is  an  allusion  not 


THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  205 

merely  to  the  outward  fact  of  God  justifying  the  one  and 
rejecting  the  other,  but  also  to  the  circumstance  that  the 
one  retired  with  a  sweet  sense  of  the  forgiveness  of  God, 
and  the  other  with  the  arrow  rankling  in  his  heart,  remind- 
ing him  that  he  was  still  the  unforgiven  and  unjustified 
criminal.  To  the  outward  beholder  the  Pharisee  was  all 
that  was  beautiful  in  the  eye  of  God ;  yet  the  publican 
alone  had  acceptance.  The  Pharisee  left  amid  the  accla- 
mations of  the  crowd ;  the  publican  with  the  approbation 
of  his  God.  The  Pharisee  retired  to  occupy  the  chief 
sedilia  of  the  synagogue ;  the  publican  retired  to  find  a 
seat  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  The  name  of  the  one 
sounded  through  the  temple,  as  that  of  a  great,  a  learned, 
and  holy  ecclesiastic ;  that  of  the  other  was  whispered  in 
heaven  as  a  child  of  God,  and  an  heir  of  all  the  promises. 
Finally,  our  Lord  winds  up  the  whole  of  this  parable  by 
stating,  "Every  one  that  exalteth  himself  shall  be  hum- 
bled, and  every  one  that  humbleth  himself  shall  be  ex- 
alted." How  true  is  this  !  How  legible  in  the  history  of 
the  world!  She  that  said,  "I  sit  as  a  queen,  and  shall 
see  no  sorrow,"  exalted  herself.  The  cup  was  put  into  her 
hand,  and  the  next  day  she  was  desolate  on  the  earth. 
Peter  said,  "  Though  all  men  should  deny  thee,  yet  will 
not  I."  Before  the  cock  had  crowed,  Peter  had  denied 
his  Lord  thrice.  When  our  Lord  asked  the  disciples, 
"  Can  yc  drink  of  the  cup  that  I  drink  of,  and  be  baptized 
with  the  baptism  that  I  am  baptized  with?"  they  answered, 
"Yea,  Lord;"  and  they  all  slumbered  and  slept  in  the 
garden  of  Gethsemane,  and  forsook  him  at  the  cross,  when 
the  hour  of  his  sorrow  was  the  darkest.  So  true  is  it  that 
"God  resisteth  the  proud,  and  giveth  grace  to  the  hum- 
ble ;"  lowers  all  human  glory,  levels  all  human  pride, 
makes  that  nation  highest  that  lies  lowest  at  his  footstool, 

II.  SER.  18 


206  FORESHADOWS. 

brings  down  the  mighty  from  their  seats,  and  exalts  only 
them  that  are  of  low  degree. 

"  The  humble  shall  be  exalted."  But,  it  may  be  asked, 
"What  is  humility?  There  is  often  the  pretence  of  it, 
which  is  more  hateful  to  God  than  the  pride  of  the  Pha- 
risee. Never  is  pride  so  hateful  as  when  it  casts  off  the 
outward  phylactery  of  the  Pharisee,  and  puts  on  the  mean 
robe,  and  speaks  in  the  sad  tone,  of  the  poor  publican. 
Never  is  sin  so  horrible  as  when  it  is  clothed  in  the  garb 
of  religion ;  and  no  where  has  greater  wickedness  been 
perpetrated  than  under  holy  roofs,  and  with  the  name  of 
God  upon  the  lips  of  them  that  did  it.  True  humility  is 
not  a  cringing  prostration  of  the  soul  before  another  man, 
because  he  is  rich,  or  great,  or  learned,  or  noble,  or  royal. 
Nor  is  that  humility  which  cringes  and  prostrates  itself 
before  the  saints  and  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  has  constructed 
the  gigantic  corporation  headed  by  the  hierachy  of  the 
church  of  Rome.  True  humility  courts  not  the  smile 
(though  it  is  thankful  when  it  has  it)  of  the  great,  and  it 
fears  not  their  frown.  It  leans  not  upon  the  mighty,  be- 
cause it  leans  upon  the  Lord.  It  bows  itself  to  the  dust 
before  the  least  word  from  heaven ;  it  stands  erect  in  its 
conscious  equality  before  the  mightiest  of  human  kind. 
Humility  has  often  been  arrayed  in  the  most  grotesque,  in 
the  most  extravagant  and  ridiculous  garbs.  The  mere  ape 
of  it  has  lived  in  solitudes,  and  perched  for  years  upon 
lofty  pillars,  dwelt  in  dark  caves,  and  worn  hair-cloth 
dresses,  has  mutilated  the  body,  starved  and  stinted  the 
flesh,  muttered  long  prayers,  gone  on  weary  pilgrimages, 
and  passed  the  night  in  wearisome  vigils,  and  all  the  while 
looked  around  to  watch  if  anybody  was  admiring  so  won- 
derful a  model  of  humility  before  God  and  man.  This  is 
the  mockery  of  it,  the  hypocrisy  that  assumes  its  guise, 
not  the  reality.  This  is  the  very  humility  that  has  ga- 


THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  207 

thercd  the  fagots,  kindled  the  flames,  burned  the  saints ; 
that  has  scourged  Europe  with  religious  wars,  pronounced 
conscience  a  crime,  reason  a  folly;  that  has  declared  the 
child's  smile  was  sin  if  it  occurred  upon  the  Sabbath,  and 
that  the  expression  of  the  young  heart — its  loud  and  merry 
laughter — was  inconsistent  with  real  and  true  religion. 
This  is  the  mockery,  the  forgery,  the  pretence,  not  the 
reality.  True  humility  is  of  another  stamp.  It  calls  no 
man  master,  and  seems  to  worldly  men  to  be  pride,  but  it 
is  only  its  deep  deference  to  God  that  enables  it  to  set  man 
in  his  own  lowly  place.  True  humility  prefers  mercy  to 
sacrifice ;  does  good,  and  is  silent ;  bears  suffering,  and  is 
patient ;  rises  above  schoolmen,  priest,  and  tradition ;  looks 
to  Christ,  sits  at  his  feet,  and  learns  only  from  him.  True 
humility  will  bid  the  priest,  the  church,  the  minister,  and 
the  schoolmen  remain,  as  Abraham  his  servants,  at  the 
bottom  of  the  mount,  while  it  rises  to  the  loftiest  crag  of 
that  mount,  and  deals  alone  with  God,  and  holds  commu- 
nion with  him  only.  True  humility  counts  holiness  far 
more  splendid  than  robes  and  phylacteries,  prefers  benefi- 
cence to  ceremony,  lives  a  divine  life,  and  is  not  satisfied 
with  merely  talking  about  it  and  praising  it.  It  means 
not  a  hair-cloth  shirt,  nor  whines  when  it  speaks,  nor  puts 
on  a  sour  and  repulsive  countenance,  nor  fancies  that  God 
can  only  be  approached,  and  religion  spoken  of,  in  sepul- 
chral tones.  But  it  does  not  seem  to  men  to  fast.  It  fasts 
before  God.  There  is  nothing  of  display  and  parade  that 
would  indicate  it  was  of  earth,  every  thing  to  prove  that 
it  is  implanted  within  from  its  Father  in  heaven.  The 
kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat,  nor  drink,  nor  phylactery, 
nor  robe,  nor  rite,  nor  ceremony,  nor  outward  appearance, 
nor  peculiar  tone,  nor  strange  conduct ;  but  it  is  righteous- 
ness, and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  Do  not  affect 
humility.  The  moment  humility  is  spoken  of  by  him  that 


1>>  FORESHADOWS. 

has  it,  that  moment  it  is  gone.  It  is  like  those  delicate 
things  which  dissolve  the  instant  they  are  touched.  You 
must  seek  out  the  violet ;  it  does  not,  like  the  poppy,  thrust 
itself  upon  your  notice.  The  moment  humility  tells  you, 
"I  am  here,"  there  is  an  end  of  it.  I  repeat  it,  pride  in 
the  garb  of  humility,  is  worse  than  pharisaic  pride ;  but 
humility  revealed  in  the  sight  of  God  only,  calling  no  man 
master  upon  earth  in  things  divine,  is  beautiful  and  holy. 
What  an  example  have  we  of  humility  in  the  character 
of  our  blessed  Lord !  His  humility  alone  indicates  that  he 
was  more  than  man.  Christ  was  possessed,  as  God,  of  the 
treasures  of  infinite  wisdom.  Suppose  Christ  a  mere  man ! 
Do  you  think  that  a  mere  man,  capable  of  explaining  every 
mystery,  of  solving  every  problem,  of  satisfying  philoso- 
phers on  those  very  topics  about  which  they  were  most 
anxiously  inquiring,  would  have  so  humbled  himself  as 
always  to  have  been  silent  on  every  topic  from  which  eclat 
could  be  gained.  Jesus  proclaimed  the  truths  which  man 
hated,  and  sought  not  to  conciliate  popularity ;  he  was 
silent  where  human  curiosity  would  have  been  gratified, 
and  eloquent  only  upon  that  by  which  human  hearts  could 
be  sanctified.  Truly  he  was  meek  and  lowly  who  could  do 
so.  Humility  is  oftener  expressed  in  not  saying  than  in 
saying,  in  silence  than  in  eloquence.  Christ  had  omnipo- 
tent power.  Now,  if  I  had  omnipotent  power,  or  a  tithe 
of  it,  so  to  speak,  were  intrusted  to  me,  I  am  sure  I  should 
display  wonders  before  this  crowd,  and  miracles  before 
that ;  and  I  should  be  so  elated,  that  like  him  that  sitteth 
in  the  temple  of  God,  showing  himself  sis  if  he  were  God, 
I  should  try  to  do  the  same.  Our  blessed  Lord  had  om- 
nipotent power;  he  might  have  performed  miracles  that 
would  have  dazzled  the  universe  with  their  splendour,  or 
awed  men's  souls  into  abject  submission  and  subjection  by 
their  terror.  But  he  did  not  do  so.  He  showed  omnipo- 


THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  209 

tent  power  only  where  a  pedestal  was  required  for  forgiv- 
ing mercy  to  shine  forth  most  luminously.  There  was  no 
excess,  no  prodigality  of  power.  What  an  instance  of 
patience  when  he  was  taunted  by  the  scribes  and  Phari- 
sees !  «  He  saved  others ;"  an  admission  that  he  possessed 
vast  power.  What  humility,  what  self-annihilation,  what 
abasement  in  his  hearing  the  additional  remark,  "  Himself 
he  cannot  save !"  Can  we  be  conscious  of  possessing 
power,  and  yet  conceal  it,  when  to  do  so  is  for  the  glory 
of  God  ?  Are  we  conscious  of  possessing  talents,  and  yet, 
because  silence  is  duty,  say  nothing  about  them  ?  Is  it 
not  too  true,  that  we  are  prone  to  pretend  to  more  talent 
than  we  have,  and  to  deny  to  our  neighbour  that  which  he 
really  has  ?  Our  pride,  with  all  our  pretences  to  humility, 
breaks  out  upon  the  right  hand  and  upon  the  left ;  and 
nothing  so  shows  the  depth  of  our  ruin  as  one  atom  of 
pride  remaining  in  a  sinner  who  has  rebelled  against  God, 
and  made  himself  worthy  of  eternal  AVO. 

Learn,  then,  from  this  parable,  the  lesson  that  we  are 
saved  by  grace ;  that  the  ground  of  our  salvation  is  nothing 
in  us,  nothing  by  us,  nothing  through  us,  but  a  complete 
righteousness  and  sacrifice  without  us.  We  must  not  for- 
get this.  The  ever-present  sense  of  it  is  the  ground  of  our 
happiness,  ay,  and  is  the  ground-spring  of  true  humility. 
By  grace  we  are  saved.  Our  sins  are  our  own,  and  we 
cannot  be  proud  of  them ;  we  cannot  be  proud  of  our  vir- 
tues, for  they  are  not  our  own.  We  cannot  be  saved  by 
our  merits,  for  we  have  none.  If  saved  at  all,  we  must 
be  saved  by  grace.  The  greatest  philanthropist,  the  most 
honoured,  the  most  upright,  the  most  exalted,  must  be 
saved  precisely  on  the  same  footing,  and  in  the  same 
character,  as  the  thief  on  the  cross,  or  the  greatest  and 
guiltiest  criminal.  There  is  no  royal  or  noble  road  to 
heaven.  All  must  lie  down  before  God,  prostrate  on  the 

18*        » 


210  FORESHADOWS. 

same  level  of  common  ruin  ;  and,  precious  thought,  all 
may  look  up  to  the  great  height  of  promised  glory,  and  be 
sure  of  obtaining  it  in  and  through  Christ  Jesus.  There 
is  no  sinner  on  earth  who  has  any  reason  or  any  right  to 
despair.  The  God  who  forgave  the  publican  is  the  same 
to-day  that  he  was  then.  It  is  true  that  he  still  delighteth 
in  mercy.  He  is  still,  as  in  the  days  of  Abraham,  and  in 
the  days  of  the  publican,  "  the  Lord  God,  merciful  and 
gracious,  long-suffering,  forgiving  iniquity,  transgression, 
and  sin."  It  is  true  now,  as  then,  that  we  have  not  a 
High-Priest  that  cannot  be  touched  with  a  feeling  of  our 
infirmities,  but  one  Avho  was  tempted  in  all  points  like  as 
we  are.  Let  us  therefore — on  this  ground — because  we 
have  such  a  High-Priest,  come  boldly  to  the  throne  of 
grace,  to  obtain  mercy  and  to  find  grace  to  help  us  in 
time  of  need. 

Let  us  learn  what  true  prayer  is.  Many  pray  from  the 
heart  who,  I  think,  pray  not  in  beautiful  words.  Prayer 
is  not  much  speaking ;  it  is  not  an  elegant  form ;  it  is  not 
the  most  exquisitely  balanced  antithesis ;  it  is  not  telling 
God  something  that  he  does  not  know;  it  is  still  less 
making  prayer  the  channel  for  preaching  to  those  that  are 
present.  It  is  the  simple  cry  of  a  broken  heart  to  that 
God  who  can  have  mercy  and  forgiveness.  It  is  a  re- 
markable proof  of  this,  that  almost  all  the  forms  of  prayer 
in  the  Bible,  accepted  before  God,  were  extremely  short 
and  simple;  and  that  exquisite  model  that  our  blessed 
Lord  taught  us,  is  the  shortest  and  simplest  of  all.  No- 
thing seems  to  me  so  harsh  as  argument  in  prayer.  Very 
fine  language,  very  beautiful  metaphors,  very  poetic  dic- 
tion, are  all  extremely  pretty  in  a  book  of  poetry,  but 
abominable  when  used  in  prayer  to  the  great  God.  What- 
ever fault  there  may  be  in  one  part  in  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land liturgy,  (and  I  do  think  its  strong  language  in  its 


THE   TWO   WORSHIPPERS.  211 

baptismal  service  alike  unhappy  and  even  perilous,)  its 
general  confession  and  litany  are  exquisite  models  of  true 
prayer.  What  can  be  simpler  than,  "  We  have  done  those 
things  which  we  ought  not  to  have  done" — every  word  a 
monosyllable;  "we  have  left  undone  those  things  which 
we  ought  to  have  done."  The  words  are  all  simple,  pure 
Saxon,  so  that  the  poorest  Sunday-school  child  can  under- 
stand them,  and  the  greatest  philosopher  may  bow  down 
his  spirit  and  use  them.  Why  is  this?  Not  so  much 
because  of  any  original  power  in  those  Avho  wrote,  but 
because  the  Reformers  were  imbued  with  scriptural  lan- 
guage, and  thoroughly  acquainted  with  Bible  truth ;  and 
if  that  liturgy  were  but  half  its  present  length,  and  the 
parts  that  are  justly  objected  to  rescinded,  it  would  be  all 
but  perfect.  But  we  too  can  pray,  in  words  which  the 
Holy  Ghost  teacheth.  Let  us  learn  from  this  Bible  not 
only  what  are  our  wants  and  necessities,  what  are  God's 
mercies  and  forgivenesses,  but  also  how  to  speak  to  God. 

There  will  arrive  a  blessed  time,  when  no  more  prayer 
will  be  practised.  Praise  will  be  the  employment  of  the 
blessed.  Neither  the  Pharisee's  self-praise,  nor  the  pub- 
lican's deep  compunction,  will  be  heard.  There  will  be  no 
wants  to  feel,  and  no  sins  to  be  forgiven.  There  will  be 
only  reasons  for  adoration,  thanksgiving,  and  glory  to 
Him  who  sits  upon  the  throne.  In  proportion  as  we  arrive 
at  this  experience  now,  we  anticipate  the  blessed  future. 


212 


LECTURE  XIV. 

THE   GOOD   SAMARITAN. 

And  Jesus  answering  said,  A  certain  man  went  down  from  Jerusalem  to  Jericbo, 
and  fell  among  thieves,  which  stripped  him  of  his  raiment,  and  wounded  him, 
and  departed,  leaving  him  half  dead.  And  by  chance  there  came  down  a 
certain  priest  that  way :  and  when  he  saw  him,  he  passed  by  on  the  other 
side.  And  likewise  a  Levite,  when  he  was  at  the  place,  came  and  looked  on 
him,  and  passed  by  on  the  other  side.  But  a  certain  Samaritan,  as  he  jour- 
neyed, came  where  he  was:  and  when  he  saw  him,  he  had  compassion  on 
him,  and  went  to  him,  and  bound  up  his  wounds,  pouring  in  oil  and  wine,  and 
set  him  on  his  own  beast,  and  brought  him  to  an  inn,  and  took  care  of  him. 
And  on  the  morrow  when  he  departed,  he  took  out  two  pence,  and  gave  them 
to  the  host,  and  said  unto  him,  Take  care  of  him ;  and  whatsoever  thou 
spendest  more,  when  I  come  again,  I  will  repay  thee.  Which  now  of  these 
three,  thinkest  thou,  was  neighbour  unto  him  that  fell  among  the  thieves? 
And  he  said,  He  that  showed  mercy  on  him.  Then  said  Jesus  unto  him,  Go, 
and  do  thou  likewise. — LUKE  x.  30-37. 

I  DO  not  think  that  the  questioner  here,  namely,  the 
lawyer,  had  any  captious  or  cavilling  design  in  putting  the 
question  to  Jesus,  "  What  must  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life  ?" 
It  is  true,  the  expression  occurs,  "tempted  him;"  hut  the 
word  "tempt"  does  not  necessarily  mean  to  influence,  by 
the  application  of  evil  motives,  or  spreading  out  iniquitous 
prospects ;  it  is,  strictly,  ascertaining  what  depth  was  in 
him,  what  response  he  could  give,  what  wisdom  he  might 
manifest ;  and  so  far,  therefore,  as  we  can  gather  from  the 
whole  parable,  he  seems  to  have  put  the  question  from  a 
right  motive,  in  a  right  spirit,  in  the  most  respectful, 
earnest,  and  appropriate  form,  "What  must  I  do  to  inherit 
eternal  life  ?"  And  if  the  lawyer  put  this  question,  then  we 
ought  to  put  the  same  question  still,  for  of  all  questions,  it 


THE   GOOD   SAMARITAN.  213 

is  the  weightiest,  it  is  the  question  of  questions.  There 
are  few  that  do  not  instantly  acquiesce  in  what  I  now  state ; 
but  the  acquiescence  that  rests  upon  the  surface  of  the 
mind,  and  the  deep  response  that  springs  from  the  depths 
of  the  heart,  are  two  totally  distinct  things.  I  believe 
many  slide  down  to  the  depths  of  perdition,  consenting  to 
every  thing,  and  feeling  and  accepting  and  disputing  no- 
thing. The  question,  then,  is  a  momentous  one,  "What 
must  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life?"  Many  far  less  moment- 
ous agitate  and  vex  us ;  well  do  we  all  know  this.  Many 
far  less  important  are  asked  by  us  every  day,  and  answers 
sought  to  them  from  every  avenue  and  at  every  hazard : 
and  yet  our  condition  is  not  as  if  we  were  born  into  the 
world  possessed  of  eternal  life,  and  had  only  to  take  means 
and  prescriptions  for  maintaining  it:  but  if  there  be  any  one 
statement  in  the  Bible  clearer  than  others,  it  is  this,  that 
we  are  born  into  the  world  without  eternal  life.  The  soul 
is  already  a  lost  thing,  and  this  we  must  feel  and  act  on, 
before  we  can  be  saved.  Many  persons  have  the  idea  that 
they  must  be  guilty  of  some  great  crime  before  they  can 
forfeit  heaven.  That  is  not  the  fact:  it  is  already  for- 
feited ;  it  is  the  first  axiom  in  Christianity,  that  we  are 
lost,  that  naturally  we  have  turned  our  backs  upon  heaven, 
and  our  faces  to  destruction :  by  our  sins  we  have  lost  the 
one,  and  by  our  deliberate  choice  we  have  embraced  and 
accepted  the  other.  And  if  eternal  life  is  already  lost, 
we  ought  to  have  evidence  that  we  have  found ^it,  before 
we  can  have  any  thing  like  peace  within,  or  bright  hopes 
before  us.  I  do  not  here  stop  to  question  whether  this  be 
just,  or  generous,  or  consistent  with  our  ideas  of  God:  this 
is  the  metaphysics  of  the  question,  with  which  I  have  not 
any  concern:  it  is  a  fact  which  we  ought  to  attend  to,  not 
a  subtle  dispute  which  we  ought  to  try  to  solve.  We  have 
lost  life ;  we  have  now  to  find  it.  Men  and  brethren,  let 


214  FORESHADOWS. 

us  ask,  arc  we  still  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  or  arc  we 
alive  unto  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord?  It  is  no 
more  than  the  just  and  simple  statement  of  our  condition 
by  nature  in  the  sight  of  God,  that  we  are  born  in  the 
eclipse,  that  we  are  lost  by  nature.  There  is  not  a  babe 
that  comes  into  the  .world,  from  the  babe  of  her  who  sways 
the  sceptre  over  lands  on  which  the  sun  never  sets,  to  the 
babe  of  the  humblest,  lowliest,  poorest  mother  in  her  do- 
minions, that  is  not  born  a  child  of  wrath,  by  nature  lost, 
ruined,  doomed.  But  there  is  not  a  child  from  the  one  I 
have  mentioned,  at  the  height  of  society,  to  the  other  that 
lies  in  the  very  depths  of  poverty,  ruin,  degradation,  and 
sin,  for  whom  a  Saviour  is  not  offered,  and  to  whom  the 
offers  of  everlasting  mercy  and  acceptance  are  not,  bond 
fide,  made  this  day  through  the  blood  and  sacrifice  and 
death  of  the  Lamb  of  God,  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of 
the  world. 

When  this  most  important  question  was  asked,  how  beau- 
tifully did  our  Lord  respond  to  it !  He  assumed  all  that 
was  good  in  the  position  of  the  questioner,  and  he  took  for 
granted  that  the  question  was,  just  as  it  ought  to  have  been, 
prompted  by  the  purest  motives,  and  contemplating  the 
best  ends.  You  must  all  have  noticed  in  the  conduct  of  our 
Lord,  how  willing  he  seems  to  be  to  pass  by  the  flaw  that 
cleaves  to  man,  and  to  lay  hold  of  the  least  remnant  of  ex- 
cellency that  is  in  him,  and  to  nurse,  and  fo'ster,  and  che- 
rish it.  He  who  knew  the  questioner's  heart  might  have 
reproved  him,  but  he  who  knew  what  was  in  man,  and  needed 
not  that  any  should  tell  him  what  was  in  man,  knew  that 
the  gentle  consolatory  treatment  might  teach  the  lesson 
with  no  less  efficacy,  and  with  much  less  offence  to  the 
prejudices  of  him  that  needed  it.  If  we  can  convey  a 
truth  to  mankind  by  awaking  their  preferences  and  extin- 
guishing their  prejudices,  we  should  try  to  do  so:  if  it  be 


THE   GOOD   SAMARITAN.  215 

necessary  that  we  should  crush  the  one,  and  scatter  the 
other,  we  must  not  hesitate ;  but,  if  it  be  possible  to  put 
the  strongest  truths  in  vehicles  the  best  and  most  pene- 
trating— if  it  be  possible  not  to  blunt  the  arrow,  but  while 
it  is  sharp  as  sharp  it  can  be,  to  feather  it  with  love  and 
Christian  affection,  we  may  expect  that  what  is  spoken  in 
love  will  not  only  pierce  the  deepest,  but  remain  also  the 
longest.  It  is  not  always  that  men  are  disposed  to  ask  the 
question,  "What  shall  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life?"  When 
every  thing  goes  smoothly  with  us,  when  all  is  sunshine 
over  and  around  and  before  us,  then  we  do  not  feel  the 
want  that  is  within  us :  but  we  know  that  while  a  man 
stands  upon  the  earth,  and  holds  by  something  above  him, 
as  long  as  the  prop,  or  the  chair,  or  the  stool  on  which  he 
stands,  remains  firm,  he  does  not  know  whether  he  has  a 
firm  hold  of  what  is  above  him  or  not ;  but  when  the  prop, 
or  whatever  supports  him,  is  swept  away,  then  he  comes  to 
learn  whether  his  grasp  of  that  which  is  above  him  be  firm, 
or  not.  So  it  is  in  our  Christian  experience.  As  long  as 
earthly  props  remain,  the  feet  stand  firm,  our  hold  of  hea- 
ven is  not  put  to  the  test ;  but  when  all  things  visible  are 
swept  away — when  ties,  and  bonds,  and  supports  which 
keep  us  steady,  are  all  snapt  in  sunder — when  the  fortune 
on  which  we  leaned,  the  prospects  on  which  we  rested,  the 
firm  rock  on  which  we  reposed,  and  on  which  our  feet  were 
placed,  are  all  carried  from  beneath  us,  then  we  truly  learn 
whether  our  hold  of  the  throne  is  strong,  and  our  grasp 
of  things  unseen  such  as  may  bear  the  stress  and  pressure 
of  another  crisis.  We  know  not  when  such  a  crisis  may 
come,  in  individual  life,  or  in  national  experience.  "He 
that  cannot  walk  with  the  footmen,  how  shall  he  run  with 
horsemen?"  He  whose  hold  is  so  feeble,  now  that  he  is 
ready  to  let  go,  how  will  that  support  him  when  he  has 
nothing  to  lean  upon  except  God,  and  that  God  not  his? 


216  FORESHADOWS. 

When  the  lawyer  asked  the  question,  our  Lord  answered 
him  immediately,  and  referred  him  to  the  great  standard 
of  all  appeal  and  only  source  of  all  such  information, 
"  What  is  written  in  the  law  ?  How  readest  thou  ?"  I  have 
before  made  the  very  important  remark,  that  the  greatest 
testimony  to  the  excellence  and  perfection  of  Scripture  is 
this  simple  fact,  that  the  Author  of  the  Scripture  ever 
appealed  to  it  for  answers  to  all  questions  that  were  ad- 
dressed to  him.  Our  blessed  Lord  was  asked  the  question, 
What  must  I  do  to  inherit  eternal  life  ?  He  might  have 
answered,  I  am  one  in  whom  is  all  the  fulness  of  Deity, 
and  in  whose  mind  are  the  depths  of  omniscience ;  I  tell 
you,  that  you  are  to  do  this,  or  to  believe  that.  But  you 
must  have  noticed,  in  reading  the  Gospels,  how  our  Lord 
sinks,  if  I  may  so  speak,  the  omniscience  of  his  knowledge 
in  order  to  exalt  and  glorify  the  fulness  and  perfection  of 
his  own  blessed  word.  There  is,  I  think,  scarcely  a  single 
occasion  when  our  Lord  answered  from  the  depths  of  his 
own  knowledge :  on  almost  every  occasion,  his  answer  was, 
"  Search  the  Scriptures,"  "  How  is  it  written  ?"  "Have 
ye  never  read?"  and  so  on ;  teaching  us  how  perfect  must 
that  book  be,  to  which  Omniscience  constantly  appealed ; 
how  full  those  springs  must  be,  from  which  the  hand  of 
God  draws  continual  supplies.  It  is  the  Divine  Author  of 
the  book,  stamping  on  its  page  the  imprimatur  of  his  ap- 
proval, and  pronouncing  that  which  was  so  full  of  wisdom, 
when  he  drew  from  it,  to  be  the  great  fountain,  and 
standard,  and  treasure,  to  which  we  in  these  days  must 
even  apply  still.  And  if,  let  us  mark,  the  Old  Testament, 
which  alone  was  written  at  that  time  when  our  Lord  thus 
appealed  to  it,  was  sufficient  to  give  an  answer  to  that 
question  of  the  lawyer,  then  how  much  more  are  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  together  sufficient  to  give  an  answer 
to  every  question  of  ours  !  Let  us  then  appeal  constantly 


THE   GOOD   SAMARITAN.  217 

where  our  Lord  sent  the  lawyer,  for  an  answer  to  the 
question  of  questions — the  word  of  God :  our  rule  of  faith 
is  not  what  the  best  men  say,  nor  what  the  most  men  say, 
but  what  the  Bible  says.  We  must  look  not  to  the  Bible 
in  the  light  of  our  creed,  but  we  must  look  to  our  creed 
in  the  light  of  the  Bible.  We  must  take  no  Popish  pre- 
scriptions or  synodic  decisions  as  infallible:  "to  the  law 
and  to  the  testimony;  if  they  speak  not  according  to  this 
word,  it  is  because  there  is  no  light  in  them."  » If  we  or 
an  angel  from  heaven  preach  to  you  any  other  doctrine, 
let  him  be  accursed."  And  the  standard  by  which  we  are 
to  try  the  angel's  eloquence,  or  an  apostle's  reasoning,  is 
assumed  to  be  the  book  which  is  the  plainest  of  all  books 
— the  word  of  the  living  God.  It  is  delightful  to  see  that 
this  book  is  beginning  to  be  more  demanded.  When,  ac- 
cording to  a  promise  I  had  made  three  or  four  months 
before,  to  be  at  Manchester  at  a  meeting  of  the  Bible  So- 
ciety, held  in  that  immense  city,  I  saw  an  assembly  in  the 
Free  Trade  Hall,  the  largest  room  in  the  kingdom,  con- 
taining at  the  lowest  calculation  between  six  and  seven 
thousand  persons,  of  all  sects,  denominations,  and  parties  ; 
and  such  has  been  the  interest  felt  in  Bible  circulation  at 
Manchester,  that  four  thousand  tickets  were  said  to  have 
been  applied  for,  which  were  refused  from  the  want  of 
space  to  hold  them  even  in  that  gigantic  building.  The 
number  of  Bibles  circulated  in  Manchester  during  the  last 
two  or  three  years  is  beyond  belief.  It  seems  as  if  some 
wave  from  the  fountain  of  life  had  come  upon  the  hearts 
of  men  ;  and  thousands  that  were  satisfied  without  a  Bible, 
are  now  determined  to  possess  one.  And  who  does  not 
rejoice  in  it?  While  much  around  us  is  desolate  and 
gloomy,  who  is  he  that  will  refuse  to  accept  this  as  a 
token  of  good,  and  as  some  evidence  that  God,  even  our 
own  God,  has  not  forsaken  us  ? 

II.   SER.  19 


218  FORESHADOWS. 

But  I  proceed  to  what  is  strictly  the  narrative  before 
me.  Our  Lord  having  put  the  question,  "  How  readest 
thou?"  the  lawyer  showed  that  he  had  read  the  Scriptures 
from  the  commencement  to  the  close,  and,  by  his  answer 
on  this  occasion,  quoted  Deut.  vi.  5,  and  gave  in  few  words 
a  perfect  summary  of  the  whole  law.  And  this  is  the 
more  remarkable  as  our  Lord  himself,  when  he  gave  a 
summary  of  the  law,  gave  that  one,  "  Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul, 
and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength" — that 
is  the  first  table  ;  "  and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself" — that  is 
the  second.  This  lawyer  had  evidently  a  sagacious  in- 
tellect ;  I  have  no  doubt  he  was  skilled  in  his  profession  ; 
he  had  clearly  a  mind  capable  of  generalizing  to  an  emi- 
nent degree ;  for  without  the  teaching  of  our  Lord,  he  had 
learned  the  epitome  of  all  moral  obligations,  and  that  con- 
densed epitome  of  the  whole  law  of  God,  "  loving  God, 
and  one's  neighbour  as  oneself."  Love  is  the  law  in  a 
monosyllable.  This  lawyer,  by  the  keenness  of  his  re- 
searches, had  found  out  that  the  whole  law  might  be  com- 
pressed into  a  nutshell,  and  that  nutshell,  "  Thou  shalt 
love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy 
soul,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength;  and 
thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  How  did  our  Lord  respond  to 
this  ?  He  said,  "  Thou  hast  answered  right;  this  do,  and 
thou  shalt  live."  Mark  the  infinite  wisdom  of  this ; 
"  Your  creed,  my  friend,  is  perfect ;  you  have  only  one 
thing  that  remains ;  embody  that  creed  in  your  future 
conduct ;  your  knowledge  is  admirable — just  convert  it  into 
action.  You  have  plenty  of  light ;  now  let  it  shine  and 
glow  through  every  act  of  your  life  and  every  utterance 
of  your  lips.  Your  answer  is  admirable ;  only  let  your 
head,  and  your  heart,  and  your  hand  be  in  perfect  har- 
mony, and  the  whole  law  will  attest  that  you  have  fulfilled 


THE   GOOD   SAMARITAN.  219 

it."  This  was  putting  the  demands  of  the  law  just  as 
they  should  be  put.  The  lawyer's  heart  was  touched ;  a 
spark  from  the  altar  was  falling  into  it ;  disquiet  and  dis- 
turbance were  thrown  into  it.  "Willing  to  justify  him- 
self," he  felt  the  moment  our  Lord  said,  Your  knowledge 
is  most  clear,  and  if  your  daily  life  be  the  efflux  of  that 
knowledge,  your  character  will  be  most  perfect :  the  instant 
our  Lord  spoke  about  practising  what  he  knew,  the  lawyer 
was  "  willing  to  justify  himself."  Why  "willing  to  justify 
himself?"  Because  the  conviction  flashed  through  his  con- 
science that  he  needed  justification.  He  felt,  the  instant 
that  he  heard  the  words  of  Jesus,  there  was  something 
wrong;  and  anxious  to  justify  himself  to  himself,  he 
answered,  "Who  is  my  neighbour?"  What  did  this 
prove  ?  By  asking,  who  is  my  neighbour  ?  he  showed, 
poor  man,  that  his  love  was  simply  mechanism;  love  of 
that  description  which  might  be  sounded  by  a  plumb-line, 
weighed  in  scales,  carved  out  into  portions,  love  of  that  pe- 
culiar description  which  inquires  what  should  be  its  limits  ? 
how  far  it  should  run  ?  where  it  should  stop  short  ?  from 
whom  it  should  shrink  ?  on  whom  it  should  be  concentrated, 
and  glow  and. burn  ?  Whenever  a  man  asks  how  much  love 
he  is  to  have  ?  how  far  that  love  is  to  go  ?  we  may  be  quite 
sure  he  has  misapprehended  the  nature  of  love  altogether, 
and  confounded  Christianity  with  rites,  religion  with  rubrics, 
the  substance  of  the  gospel  with  its  mere  shell  and  ceremo- 
nial. Our  Lord's  reply  which  he  made  to  this  question  was 
just,  beautiful,  appropriate,  and  striking.  The  tendency  of 
this  reply  is  plainly  to  show,  that  it  is  not  the  object  of 
our  love  about  which  we  are  to  busy  ourselves,  but  the 
love  itself.  Love  thinks  not  if  its  object  be  genuine,  it 
will  show  itself  where  occasion  requires  it.  Hence  the 
history  which  our  Lord  gave  is  intended  to  turn  the  law- 
yer's attention  from  the  object  of  his  love,  and  fix  it  on 


220  FORESHADOWS. 

the  analysis  of  the  substance  and  origin  of  his  love.  He 
therefore  gave  that  very  beautiful  parable  on  which  I  now 
proceed  to  enter.  "A  certain  man,"  he  said,  "went  down 
to  Jericho ;  and  fell  among  thieves,  who  stripped  him  of 
his  raiment,  and  wounded  him,  and  departed,  leaving  him 
half  dead."  To  go  to  the  capital  was  then,  as  now,  to  go 
up ;  to  leave  the  capital  was  to  go  down :  just  as  we  say, 
in  modern  railways,  the  down  line  is  that  which  goes  out 
of  the  capital,  the  up  line  is  that  by  which  you  approach 
the  capital.  So  the  road  to  Jericho  was  the  down  road. 
This  road,  according  to  ancient  historians,  was  a  rugged, 
precipitous,  and  dangerous  road,  stretching  through  a 
great  wilderness,  and,  in  the  days  of  Jerome,  in  the  fourth 
century,  frequented  by  thieves  and  robbers  of  the  worst 
description.  The  whole  parable  is  topographically  cor- 
rect ;  its  geography  is  perfect :  no  one  acquainted  with 
the  road  would  fail  to  see  the  force  of  the  description.  It 
would  appear  that  the  traveller  was  there  met  by  robbers, 
stripped  of  his  property,  and  left  half  dead.  We  read 
that  "  by  chance  a  certain  priest  went  that  way,  and  when 
he  saw  him  he  passed  by  on  the  other  side."  Some  one 
will  say,  Chance  !  why  I  thought  you  had  frequently  made 
the  remark,  that  there  was  no  such  thing  as  chance  in  the 
providence  of  God,  or  in  the  arrangements  of  the  gospel? 
It  is  perfectly  true,  there  is  none;  and  the  word  here 
translated  chance,  ought  not  to  be  so  translated :  it  is 
literally,  "by  coincidence"  a  certain  priest  passed  by  that 
way ;  i.  e.  by  one  event  falling  in  with  another ;  a  person 
who  could  not  avoid  falling  in  with  a  person  who  needed 
help ;  him  that  had  meeting,  by  a  happy  coincidence,  him 
that  had  not.  The  priest  had  been  serving  in  the  temple, 
he  had  been  attending  at  the  morning  or  evening  sacrifice, 
and  he  passed  from  Jerusalem  to  his  parsonage,  or  his 
manse,  or  house  where  he  lived,  probably  at  Jericho ;  and 


THE   GOOD   SAMARITAN.  221 

"when  he  saw  him,"  it  is  said,  "he  passed  by  on  the  other 
side."  He  had  not  learned  that  God  "will  have  mercy 
rather  than  sacrifice  ;"  he  had  not  yet  felt  that  to  pour  oil 
into  the  Avounds  of  the  sufferer,  is  noble  and  more  accept- 
able to  God  than  to  raise  the  richest  incense,  or  to  perform 
with  the  most  mechanical  precision  all  the  rites  and  sacri- 
fices of  the  temple  worship.  So  has  it  been  still,  with 
priests  of  every  church  and  every  communion.  Religion 
is  prone  to  become  a  religion  of  rites  and  ceremonies,  of 
fasting  and  feasting,  and  not  a  religion  of  mercy,  of  love, 
and  of  good-will.  Even  on  the  Sabbath  we  are  to  visit  the 
sick,  and  minister  to  the  wants  of  the  poor.  The  Sabbath 
is  made  for  man,  not  man  for  the  Sabbath ;  and  he  who 
refuses  to  do  a  deed  of  mercy  because  it  is  the  Sabbath, 
so  far  approximates  to  Rome,  and  ceases  to  be  a  Protestant, 
for  he  makes  man  made  for  the  Sabbath,  instead  of  the 
Sabbath  made  for  man.  I  saw  a  painful  instance  of  this 
in  Scotland.  A  lady  who  had  heard  that  her  father  was 
dying,  wished  to  reach  the  dying  bed  of  that  father  as  soon 
as  she  could.  They  have  made  it  a  law  in  Scotland,  that 
there  shall  be  no  Sunday  travelling  on  the  railway.  Per- 
haps they  have  gone  too  far.  I  think  if  they  would  allow 
the  mail  train,  just  as  the  mail  coach  used  to  go  through 
Scotland  in  old  time,  it  would  have  been  a  more  excellent 
way.  Yet  good  men  think  otherwise.  But  here  was  this 
person  who  wished  to  reach  her  dying  father :  she  came 
to  the  railway  station  on  the  Sabbath  morning,  but,  though 
she  explained  the  circumstances,  and  corroborated  her 
statement  by  evidence  which  was  irresistible,  these  thorough 
rubricians  persevered  in  refusing  even  to  send  an  express 
train  lest  the  Sabbath,  should  be  violated,  and  thought  it 
better  that  a  daughter  should  be  kept  from  a  dying  father, 
than  that  such  a  rule  as  they  had  made  should  be  infringed. 
It  seems  to  me  that  these  people  did  more  to  injure  the 

19* 


222  FORESHADOWS. 

great  cause  that  they  and  we  have  at  heart,  than  all  the 
newspaper  attacks  that  have  been  written  or  may  be  written 
on  the  subject.  When  the  ritual  is  strained  beyond  the 
spirit  of  the  law,  and  comes  to  the  point  that  man  is  made 
for  the  Sabbath,  not  the  Sabbath  for  man,  then  I  believe 
that  such  decision  will  do  more  to  propagate  railway  tra- 
velling on  the  Sabbath  day  than  all  the  speeches  made  in 
defence  of  it.  Let  us  never  forget  that  "the  Sabbath  was 
made  for  man,  not  man  for  the  Sabbath;"  that  God  will 
have  mercy  rather  than  sacrifice,  and  that  no  precision  in 
the  observance  of  a  ceremony  can  atone  for  the  violation 
or  neglect  of  a  great  moral  duty. 

The  priest  passed  by  on  the  other  side.  It  appears  that 
a  Levite  followed :  and  this  Levite  went  a  step  further 
than  the  priest ;  he  went  and  looked  upon  the  person  who 
was  wounded,  and  robbed,  and  plundered,  but  passed  on 
the  other  side.  The  priest  passed  by,  fearful  lest  his  feel- 
ings should  be  disturbed.  The  Levite,  of  not  so  hard 
metal,  drew  near  the  wounded  man,  and  looked  upon  him ; 
he  felt  little  more  than  the  priest,  he  went  on  and  left 
him :  the  one  showed  his  cruelty  by  not  going  near  him ; 
the  other  showed  greater  cruelty,  if  possible,  by  examining 
the  depths  of  the  suffering,  and  yet  passing  on  and  letting 
him  alone.  I  have  no  doubt  these  men  had  excuses.  Men 
never  sin  without  an  excuse,  and  that  must  be  a  very  fla- 
grant act  which  has  no  excuse.  I  have  no  doubt  they 
said,  "Poor  man,  he  is  too  far  gone  ;  I  cannot  help  him." 
Or  the  other  said,  "  Our  time  is  extremely  valuable ;  we 
shall  be  two  minutes  too  late  for  such  a  synod,  or  such  a 
priestly  act;  or  we  shall  be  too  late  for  lighting  the  lamps, 
or  tending  the  lights,  or  attending  to  the  great  ceremonies 
of  the  temple ;  or  if  we  stop  to  take  care  of  this  man,  the 
very  same  robbers  may  seize  upon  us,  and  plunder,  and 
almost  destroy  us :  <  Discretion  is  the  better  part  of  va- 


THE   GOOD   SAMARITAN.  223 

lour;'  we  will  therefore  pass  on,  and  let  him  alone."  I 
have  no  doubt  this  was  their  reasoning.  But  there  came 
a  third  person.  God's  eye  was  on  the  sufferer,  and  he 
raised  up  one,  who  would  look  upon  and  pity  him.  A  Sa- 
maritan passed  by,  and  that  Samaritan  had  compassion 
upon  him.  The  Samaritan's  time  was  just  as  precious  as 
the  priest's ;  the  Samaritan  had  just  as  much  reason  to 
fear  the  robbers  as  the  priest ;  and  the  poor  Samaritan 
knew  that  whatever  he  did  for  that  man,  he  should  get  no 
thanks.  He  was  a  Samaritan ;  the  man  was  a  Jew ;  and 
there  were  no  dealings  between  the  Jews  and  the  Sama- 
ritans :  yet  he  bound  up  his  wounds,  and  showed  him  every 
attention,  though  he  knew  very  well  that  he  should  only 
be  treated  with  contumely  and  scorn  for  his  pains ;  and  in 
the  face  of  all  fears,  the  Samaritan  approached  him,  and 
pitied  him — and  the  look  of  a  pitying  eye  is  full  of  balm 
— and  bound  up  his  wounds,  and  healed  him,  and  took 
care  of  him.  That  Samaritan's  heart  was  larger  than  the 
sect  to  which  he  belonged ;  .  its  noble  pulses  beat  and 
pushed  their  tide  outward  to  the  limits  of  humanity  itself; 
the  man  rose  above  the  Samaritan;  the  Christian  merged 
in  its  mercy  and  beneficence  the  sectarian ;  and  he  looked 
at  suffering  humanity,  neither  from  this  mountain  nor  that, 
but  fi*bm  the  mountain  of  mercy,  love,  and  sympathy,  from 
which  all  mankind  should  look  each  man  at  his  fellow,  and 
each  nation  even  at  its  enemies. 

The  lawyer  was  thus  taught  the  great  lesson  of  which 
he  seemed  to  be  ignorant.  "Which  of  them  was  neigh- 
bour to  him  that  fell  among  thieves  ?"  asked  our  Lord. 
Notice  the  answer  of  the  lawyer.  He  hated  the  very  name 
of  the  Samaritans  as  a  devoted  nation ;  he  did  not,  there- 
fore, say  to  our  Lord  at  once,  "The  neighbour  was  the 
Samaritan  ;"  that  would  have  been  going  too  far  ;  but  he 
expressed  it  by  a  periphrasis ;  he  said,  "  He  that  showed 


224  FORESHADOWS. 

mercy  on  him."  He  might  have  said  the  Samaritan,  but 
his  bigotry  would  not  say  so ;  yet  his  honesty  would  not 
allow  him  to  conceal  the  fact  that  the  true  neighbour  was 
he  that  showed  the  greatest  compassion.  So  our  love 
should  be.  Christian  love  is  not  to  be  limited  by  sect,  or 
nation,  or  continent,  or  country.  It  is  to  pass  by  the  ex- 
terior, and  to  prize  the  precious  thing  that  is  within ;  it  is 
to  go  beyond  the  walls  of  sect,  and  triumph  wherever  it 
"finds  and  feels  humanity.  Our  blessed  Lord  tells  us  this 
is  the  way  of  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  The  sunbeams 
do  not  ask  if  it  be  a  genial  soil  before  they  fall  upon  it; 
the  rain-drops  do  not  ask  whether  it  be  desert  sand  or  pro- 
lific earth  before  they  light  upon  it ;  but  suns  and  rains 
fall  upon  the  evil  and  the  good ;  thereby  teaching  us,  that 
our  love,  our  charity,  our  compassion  is  not  to  be  guided 
at  all  by  the  elements  of  faith,  of  creed,  of  sect,  of  nation, 
of  kin  or  kindred,  but  by  the  great  law,  wherever  humanity 
suffers  there  the  human  heart  should  sympathize,  and 
wherever  a  brother  is  in  necessity,  there  a  brother's  love 
should  clothe  and  feed  him.  So  truly  and  so  beautifully 
spoke  our  Lord  in  Matthew  v. :  "  Ye  have  heard  that  it  has 
been  said  by  them  of  old  time,  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neigh- 
bour and  hate  thine  enemy.  But  I  say  unto  you,  Love 
your  enemies,  bless  them  which  curse  you,  and  pray  for 
them  which  despitefully  use  you  and  persecute  you.  That 
ye  may  be  the  children  of  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven, 
for  he  maketh  his  sun  to  rise  on  the  evil  and  on  the  good, 
and  sendeth  rain  on  the  just  and  on  the  unjust.  For  if 
ye  love  them  which  love  you,  what  reward  have  ye  ?  do 
not  even  the  publicans  the  same  ?  And  if  ye  salute  your 
brethren  only,  what  do  ye  more  than  others  ?  do  not  even 
the  publicans  so  ?  Be  ye  therefore  perfect,  as  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  is  perfect." 

Such  is  the  lesson  taught  to  the  lawyer,  and  through 


THE  GOOD   SAMARITAN.  225 

him  to  us,  in  this  beautiful  parable :  there  is,  however,  in 
this,  as  in  all  the  parables  of  Christ,  an  inner  and  deeper, 
though  a  more  mysterious,  meaning  still.  I  believe  that 
this  parable  is  a  great  representation  of  human  nature  in 
its  ruin,  and  of  the  interposition  of  Him  who  is  mystically 
the  good  Samaritan.  Man  fell  from  God  in  Paradise.  He 

o 

lost  his  strength  and  became  weak,  his  holiness  and  became 
guilty,  his  glory  and  was  made  desolate ;  and  as  soon  as 
he  went  forth  from  Paradise  he  fell  into  a  world,  like  Jericho 
the  city  of  the  curse,  and  in  it  Satan,  the  robber  and  mur- 
derer from  the  beginning,  has  plundered  and  wounded  him, 
till  his  life-blood  flows  from  every  pore.  The  last  remains 
of  his  ancient  glory  are  faded,  and  humanity  lies  in  its 
wreck  and  ruin,  deplored  by  the  holy  ones,  and  pitied  only 
by  Him  whose  mercy  is  over  all  his  creatures.  While  hu- 
manity was  lying  in  this  state,  Abraham  beheld  and  passed 
by,  for  he  had  no  mercy  to  spare  for  others,  all  the  mercy 
that  he  had  was  derived  from  One  that  was  to  come  ;  Moses 
passed  by  with  the  righteous  law  and  the  burning  glory, 
and  he  too  had  no  prescription  and  no  balm  that  could  heal 
wounded  humanity.  Aaron  passed  by  with  his  rites,  and 
ceremonies,  and  sacrifices,  which,  though  offered  year  by 
year  continually,  could  never  take  away  sin.  The  priest, 
the  patriarch,  the  prophet,  the  philosopher,  the  Greek,  the 
Jew,  the  barbarian,  all  passed  by,  acknowledging  a  ruin 
which  they  could  not  retrieve,  wounds  they  could  not  heal, 
a  condition  too  desperate  for  any  of  the  waters  of  Abana 
and  Pharpar,  rivers  of  Damascus,  to  restore :  but  at  last 
One  passed  not  by,  but  paused,  nobler  and  more  glorious 
than  all,  because  the  end,  the  object,  and  the  fountain  of 
all.  He  can  say,  «  No  eye  pitied  thee  to  have  compassion 
upon  thee ;  but  thou  wast  cast  out.  And  when  I  passed 
by  thee  and  saw  thee  polluted  in  thine  own  blood,  I  said 
unto  thee  when  thou  wast  in  thy  blood,  Live :  yea,  I  said 


226       /  FORESHADOWS. 

unto  thee  when  them  wast  in  thy  blood,  Live.  And  I  spread 
my  skirt  over  thee  and  covered  thy  nakedness  :  yea,  I  sware 
unto  thee  and  entered  into  a  covenant  with  thee,  saith  the 
Lord  God,  and  thou  becaraest  mine." 

I  have  thus  looked  at  the  whole  of  this  beautiful  parable : 
let  me  make  the  following  remarks  in  conclusion.  First, 
it  is  perfectly  possible  to  be  acquainted  with  all  the  truths 
of  Christianity  and  not  to  feel  them.  The  lawyer  knew 
the  law  in  all  its  force,  he  had  practised  none  of  it :  and 
if  there  be  a  responsibility  more  dreadful  than  another,  it 
is  to  know  duty  and  do  the  reverse ;  it  is  to  know  the  truth 
that  can  save  us,  and  cleave  to  the  lie  that  must  inevitably 
condemn  us.  None  plunge  into  so  deep  a  ruin  as  those  that 
have  been  placed  upon  the  loftiest  pinnacle  of  human  privi- 
leges. Perhaps,  reader,  you  know  the  gospel  in  your  head ; 
has  it  touched,  transformed,  pervaded,  sanctified  your 
heart  ?-  Ask  the  question  yourself,  has  Christianity  made 
me  any  thing  this  day,  which  I  should  not  have  been  if 
Christianity  had  never  been  in  the  world  ?  Are  you  now 
what  your  constitutional  character  and  conventional  cir- 
cumstances have  made  you,  and  which  you  would  have  been 
if  the  cross  had  never  been  raised,  and  a  divine  sufferer 
had  never  hung  upon  it  ?  or  are  you  conscious  that  if  you 
had  never  heard  the  gospel,  you  would  have  been  altogether 
a  different  person  from  that  which  you  now  are  ?  What 
the  gospel  has  made  you  is  the  measure  of  what  the  gospel 
is  to  you.  Christianity  is  not  in  word,  but  in  power  :  where 
it  is  simply  a  clear  creed,  without  a  holy  sanctified  heart 
and  conduct,  it  is  responsibility  that  will  ruin,  not  grace 
that  will  save. 

In  the  next  place,  let  us  learn  this  lesson,  that  we  need 
to  know  the  requirements  of  God's  law  before  we  can  ap- 
preciate with  adequate  gratitude  the  provisions  of  God's 
gospel.  It  is  only  when  we  see  how  broad  and  large  and 


THE   GOOD   SAMARITAN.  227 

deep  are  the  demands  of  his  holy  law,  that  we  can  feel  our 
utter  inability  to  do  it ;  and,  feeling  our  inability  to  obey 
a  law,  perfect  obedience  to  which  would  be  perfect  happi- 
ness, we  look  about  to  inquire  if  there  be  one  from  whom 
perfect  happiness  can  be  realized.  Christianity  does  not 
think  less  of  sin,  or  diminish  its  guilt,  or  think  less  of  the 
requirements  of  the  law,  but  it  exalts  the  atonement  of 
Him  whose  blood  cleanses  from  all  sin,  and  whose  right- 
eousness is  the  end  of  that  law.  Hence  when  we  preach 
forgiveness  through  Christ,  we  do  not  want  men  to  think 
their  sins  less  than  they  are,  or  to  think  the  law  less  strict 
than  it  is,  but  to  see  more  clearly  the  magnificent  provision 
that  is  made  in  the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  sinners ;  so 
that  we  may  see  the  strictest  law  glorified  by  his  obedience, 
and  the  greatest  sin  forgiven  through  the  efficacy  of  his  blood. 

Especially  let  us  learn  this  lesson,  to  do  good  to  all 
men  as  we  have  opportunity.  Do  not  ask  querulous  or 
small  questions  when  you  see  objects  which  you  know  to 
be  suffering  with  hunger  and  cold  :  do  not  ask,  Can  you 
pronounce  my  Shibboleth  ?  are  you  a  member  of  my  sect, 
or  party,  or  denomination  ?  Not  that  you  are  to  love  less 
the  truth,  but  that  your  love  is  to  go  beyond  the  limits 
of  your  sect,  and  to  express  itself  wherever  suffering  is 
found.  Every  one  should  feel  that  he  has  a  neighbour 
somewhere,  whose  wants,  necessities,  and  sufferings  he  is 
called  upon  to  minister  to.  And  I  believe  we  shall  do 
more  for  our  sect  by  extending  our  charity  beyond  it,  than 
by  restricting  it  to  it. 

He,  then,  is  truly  our  neighbour  who  loves  us  most.  It 
is  not  country,  it  is  not  locality,  it  is  not  party,  that  makes 
a  neighbour ;  it  is  humanity  itself.  Let  us  as  much  as 
possible  rid  ourselves  of  all  the  prejudices  of  self ;  let  us 
look  upon  no  man  as  our  foe ;  let  us  take  our  political 
opponent  and  love  him ;  let  us  recollect  that  the  army  of 


228  FORESHADOWS. 

the  Great  King  has  no  universal  uniform  ;  that  his  people 
are  found  in  all  sects,  that  they  may  be  discovered  in  all 
circumstances. 

Let  us  show  the  love  that  we  feel  by  surrounding  a 
communion  table  from  time  to  time,  and  commemorating 
there  the  love  of  our  eldest  Brother,  our  glorious  Neigh- 
bour, the  Son  of  God,  the  Saviour  of  sinners.  It  is  by 
surrounding  that  table,  that  we  profess  we  are  not  ashamed 
of  him  that  loved  us.  %We  declare  that  we  glory  in  the 
manifestation  of  love  which  that  cross  exhibited.  And 
•we  proclaim  at  that  table,  that  our  love  is,  in  its  degree 
and  measure,  like  Christ's  love ;  a  love  that  embraces,  like 
the  atmosphere,  the  highest  and  the  remotest,  and  that  we 
are  ready  to  sacrifice  in  our  Master's  spirit,  and  with  our 
Master's  property — for  that  property  we  have  saved,  that 
money  in  the  stocks,  those  sovereigns  in  the  bank,  are  not 
yours,  the  image  and  superscription  of  Christ  are  upon 
them  all,  and  a  day  may  come  when  you  shall  see  the  folly 
of  hoarding,  and  feel  the  wisdom  and  the  joy  of  distribut- 
ing. Days  may  come  when  it  shall  be  seen,  that  he  who 
gave  and  scattered  has  increased,  and  that  he  who  in- 
creased and  scattered  none,  has  lost  indeed.  I  believe 
that  we  are  now  coming  into  a  cycle  that  will  test  our 
Christianity;  an  era  in  which  nothing  but  realities  will 
live:  hypocrites,  pretenders,  shams,  ceremonials,  rituals, 
all  will  be  scattered  like  the  leaves  of  autumn,  before  the 
winds  that  will  then  sweep  the  earth.  Let  us  make  sure 
that  our  footing  is  on  the  Rock  of  ages,  that  our  right 
hand  grasps  the  sceptre  of  the.  Great  King ;  that  we  make 
religion  now  a  reality,  and  take  it  home  to  our  hearts. 
Let  us  not  leave  the  question  unsettled,  What  must  I  do  to 
inherit  eternal  life?  We  must  determine  to  have  an 
answer  to  it.  I  think  the  most  melancholy  spectacle  we 
ministers  witness  several  times  a  year,  is,  that  when  we 


THE   GOOD   SAMARITAN.  229 

tell  the  communicants  to  remain,  two-thirds  of  the  congre- 
gation retire ;  and  it  seems  as  if  the  sounds  of  their  de- 
parting footsteps  echoed  in  our  hearts,  We  don't  belong  to 
Christ,  we  are  not  fit  to  go  to  his  table  on  earth ;  of  course 
we  are  not  fit  to  go  before  his  judgment-seat  in  heaven. 
Deeds  say  so.  With  the  sword  suspended  in  the  distance 
— with  diseases  of  all  sorts,  like  terrible  miasma,  hovering 
on,  our  shores — with  lives  frail  as  the  spider's  web — with 
responsibilities  that  eternity  will  not  exhaust,  hell  will 
not  quench,  and  nothing  but  the  blood  of  Christ  can 
meet — one  may  well  ask,  is  it  right,  is  it  reasonable  to 
remain  in  this  suspensive,  this  unsettled,  this  undecided 
state,  whether  we  are  the  people  of  God  or  not?  I 
do  not  say  that  all  who  come  to  that  table  are  Chris- 
tians ;  but  I  do  say  that  all  who  are  purposely  absent 
from  it,  declare  themselves  that  they  do  not  pretend  to 
be  so.  It  is  our  Lord's  last  command,  his  dying  com- 
mand, Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me :  and,  if  we  were 
to  look  at  it  in  a  right  light,  spread,  as  it  is,  upon 
Calvary,  not  upon  Sinai ;  for  poor  sinners,  not  for  cheru- 
bim nor  for  angels  around  the  throne  of  God,  but  for  the 
hungry,  the  thirsty,  the  feeble,  the  faint,  the  doubting,  the 
suspecting,  the  agitated,  the  almost  despairing — I  am  sure 
it  would  not  be  so  deserted  as  it  is.  What,  is  the  soldier 
ashamed  of  his  country  and  his  queen?  Is  one  who 
believes  himself  a  Christian  ashamed  to  say,  Christ's  death 
is  my  life,  his  life  my  pattern,  his  atonement  my  trust,  his 
heaven  my  home  ?  I  count  all  but  loss  for  him,  I  rejoice 
in  his  grace ;  in  life  I  serve  him,  in  heaven  I  hope  to  be  with 
him,  and  this  day  I  solemnly  and  deliberately  avow  him. 

Thus  met  as  neighbours  around  a  communion  table  on 
earth,  we  anticipate,  or  rather  have  an  instalment  of,  that 
holy  festival  at  which  we  shall  again  meet  as  happy  neigh- 
bours in  the  age  to  come. 

II.  SEE.  20 


230 


LECTURE  XY. 


THE    SON    OF    GOD. 

Hear  another  parable  :  There  was  a  certain  householder,  which  planted  a  vine- 
yard, and  hedged  it  round  about,  and  digged  a  winepress  in  it,  and  built  a 
tower,  and  let  it  out  to  husbandmen,  and  went  into  a  far  country:  and  when 
the  time  of  the  fruit  drew  near,  he  sent  his  servants  to  the  husbandmen,  that 
they  might  receive  the  fruits  of  it.  And  the  husbandmen  took  his  servants, 
and  beat  one,  and  killed  another,  and  stoned  another.  Again,  he  sent  other 
servants  more  than  the  first:  and  they  did  unto  them  likewise.  But  last  of 
all  he  sent  unto  them  his  son,  saying,  They  will  reverence  my  son.  But 
when  the  husbandmen  saw  the  son,  they  said  among  themselves,  This  is  the 
heir;  come,  let  us  kill  him,  and  let  us  seize  on  his  inheritance.  And  they 
caught  him,  and  cast  him  out  of  the  vineyard,  and  slew  film.  When  the  lord 
therefore  of  the  vineyard  cometh,  what  will  he  do  unto  those  husbandmen? 
They  say  unto  him,  He  will  miserably  destroy  those  wicked  men,  and  will 
let  out  his  vineyard  unto  other  husbandmen,  which  shall  render  him  the 
fruits  in  their  season. — MATT.  xxi.  33-41. 

IN  my  discourse  on  the  labourers  of  the  vineyard,  I 
explained  at  length  the  appropriate  symbol  of  a  vineyard, 
as  descriptive  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  committed  in  trust 
to  a  people.  The  vineyard  here  I  conceive  to  be  just  that 
sacred  deposit,  that  guardianship  of  the  truth,  which  was 
intrusted  first  to  the  Jews,  and  on  their  unfaithfulness  and 
treachery,  committed  to  the  Gentiles.  The  kingdom  of 
God  I  look  upon  as  having  for  its  elements,  not  meat  nor 
drink,  but  righteousness,  and  peace,  and  joy;  and  as 
having  for  its  subjects  regenerated,  sanctified,  believing, 
redeemed  men.  This  kingdom,  which  has  those  charac- 
teristic elements,  and  distinctive  subjects,  was  first  com- 
mitted to  the  Jews ;  it  was  a  vineyard  intrusted  to  them ; 


THE   SON   OF   GOD.  231 

its  laws  were  the  sacred  oracles ;  its  administrators  were 
the  priests  and  Levites  anointed  of  God  for  the  purpose ; 
its  rites  and  ceremonies,  from  the  minutest  to  the  greatest, 
were  all  laid  down  and  described  by  God.  It  was  thus  a 
sacred  trust,  a  hallowed  deposit,  which  was  committed  to 
the  Jews  for  the  benefit  of  their  nation  and  for  the  glory 
of  their  God ;  the  misuse  of  which  was  the  greatest  ingrati- 
tude, the  betrayal  of  which  was  the  greatest  sin. 

This  vineyard  thus  committed  to  the  Jews — this  sacred 
trust — was  meant  to  bring  forth  fruit ;  and  we  read  that, 
as  the  time  of  the  fruit  drew  near,  the  householder  re- 
solved to  enjoy  that  fruit.  It  is  here  presumed,  that  when 
it  was  let  out  or  lent  to  the  Jews,  the  payment,  as  it  were, 
to  the  lender,  that  is,  God,  was  not  to  be  in  money,  but  in 
kind ;  he  expected  to  have  his  rent  in  grapes,  not  in  coin; 
and,  therefore,  when  the  time  of  the  fruit  draws  near,  God 
looks  for  the  fruit  or  rent  that  is  fairly  due  to  him.  This 
teaches  us,  that  wherever  God  has  left  a  blessing,  there  he 
has  laid  a  Responsibility;  wherever  God  has  given  a  talent, 
there  he  looks  for  the  use  of  it.  If  we  are  conscious  that 
we  have  received  from  God  the  blessing  of  health,  of 
strength,  of  wealth,  of  power,  of  talent,  of  influence, 
whatever  it  may  be,  God  comes  at  the  proper  season,  and 
looks  for  the  appropriate  fruit ;  and  if  we  have  failed,  the 
talent  will  be  taken  from  us,  the  vineyard  will  be  lent  to 
others,  and  all  the  responsibility  only,  without  the  least 
enjoyment,  of  that  great  blessing,  will  remain  with  us. 

The  first  question  that  occurs  in  endeavouring  to  explain 
the  meaning  of  this  parable  is,  Who  were  the  servants  that 
the  householder,  or  the  original  landlord,  sent  into  the 
vineyard,  in  order  to  bring  him  the  fruit  ?  It  is  said,  "he 
sent  his  servants  to  the  husbandmen;"  and,  "again  he 
sent  other  servants."  As  to  the  treatment  which  these 
servants  received,  we  are  told  that  som^  were  beaten,  some 


282  FORESHADOWS. 

were  stoned,  and  some  were  killed.  The  priests,  the  Lc- 
vites,  and  the  Jews  were  God's  ordinary  ministers ;  they 
cultivated  the  vineyard,  tended  the  vines,  watered  them, 
pruned  them,  and  were  appointed  to  do  every  thing  which 
might  contribute  to  their  fruitfulness.  But  the  servants 
that  he  sent  cannot  be  the  parties  to  whom  the  vineyard 
was  intrusted ;  for  these  last  were  the  Pharisees,  the  Jews, 
the  Levites,  and  the  priests.  The  servants  that  he  sent 
were  his  prophets.  They  were  extraordinary  messengers; 
they  were  not  priests,  but  strictly  and  properly  laymen. 
Isaiah  was  a  layman,  so  was  Ezekiel,  so  was  Malachi ;  but 
they  were  anointed  and  raised  of  God  to  execute  a  special 
mission,  to  make  known  to  the  people  of  Israel  truths 
which,  except  by  those  channels,  could  not  be  made  known. 
The  servants  then  were  the  prophets  that  God  sent  at  suc- 
cessive epochs  in  the  history  of  Israel,  beginning  with  the 
first,  and  ending  with  the  last,  to  call  for  the  fruit  of  the 
vineyard,  and  each  in  turn  to  make  his  report  to  God  as 
to  the  fertility  and  the  produce  of  that  precious  deposit, 
which  had  been  intrusted  to  the  Jews.  The  reception 
these  servants  met  with  is  frequently  alluded  to  in  Scrip- 
ture, so  frequently  as  to  show  that  God  laid  great  stress 
upon  it.  For  instance,  in  Jeremiah  xxxvii.  we  read, 
"  Then  Jeremiah  went  forth  out  of  Jerusalem  to  go  into 
the  land  of  Benjamin,  to  separate  himself  thence  in  the 
midst  of  the  people.  And  when  he  was  in  the  gate  of 
Benjamin,  a  captain  of  the  ward  was  there,  whose  name 
was  "Irijah,  the  son  of  Shelemiah,  the  son  of  Hananiah ; 
and  he  took  Jeremiah  the  prophet,  saying,  Thou  fallest 
away  to  the  Chaldeans.  Then  said  Jeremiah,  It  is  false; 
I  fall  not  away  to  the  Chaldeans.  But  he  hearkened  not 
to  him :  so  Irijah  took  Jeremiah,  and  brought  him  to  the 
princes.  Wherefore  the  princes  were  wroth  with  Jere- 
miah, and  smote  him,  and  put  him  in  prison."  This  is 


THE   SON   OF   GOD.  233 

one  specimen  of  the  treatment  of  God's  prophets.  AVe 
have  another  allusion  to  this  very  same  course  of  treatment 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  in  that  striking  appeal  of  Ste- 
phen's, where  he  says,  "Ye  stiff-necked  and  uncircumcised 
in  heart  and  ears,  ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost:  as 
your  fathers  did,  so  do  ye.  Which  of  the  prophets  have 
not  your  fathers  persecuted  ?  And  they  have  slain  them 
which  showed  before  of  the  coming  of  the  Just  One,  of 
whom  ye  have  now  been  the  betrayers  and  murderers."  In 
the  Epistle  to  the  Thessalonians  also  we  read,  "  For  ye, 
brethren,  became  followers  of  the  churches  of  God,  which 
in  Judea  are  in  Christ  Jesus ;  for  ye  also  have  suffered 
like  things  of  your  countrymen,  even  as  they  have  of  the 
Jews ;  who  both  killed  the  Lord  Jesus,  and  their  own  pro- 
phets, and  have  persecuted  us  ;  and  they  please  not  God, 
and  are  contrary  to  all  men."  In  Hebrews  xi.  36,  we  have 
another  reference  to  the  same  treatment:  "And  others  had 
trial  of  cruel  mockings  and  scourgings,  yea,  moreover,  of 
bonds  and  imprisonment :  they  were  stoned,  they  were 
sawn  asunder,  were  tempted,  were  slain  with  the  sword : 
they  wandered  about  in  sheepskins  and  goatskins ;  being 
destitute,  afflicted,  tormented."  We  have  thus  then  every 
portion  of  Scripture  bearing  testimony  to  the  fact  that 
the  Jews  maltreated,  persecuted,  and  destroyed  the  ser- 
vants that  were  sent  to  them.  Isaiah  was  sawn  asunder, 
and  to  him  the  apostle  in  the  Hebrews  probably  alludes ; 
Jeremiah  was  stoned  to  death ;  and  if  we  knew  the  biogra- 
phy of  each  of  the  rest  of  the  prophets,  we  should  find 
that  they  too  suffered  in  a  similar  manner.  So  true  is  it, 
what  God  says  to  Jeremiah,  "I  sent  unto  you  my  servants 
the  prophets,  rising  up  early  and  sending  them  ;  saying, 
Oh,  do  not  this  abominable  thing  which  I  hate."  "Never- 
theless they  rebelled  against  thee,  and  cast  thy  laws  be- 
hind their  back,  and  slew  thy  prophets  who  testified  unto 

20* 


234  FORESHADOWS. 

them."  We  have  very  clear  evidence,  then,  that  the  ser- 
vants were  the  prophets  sent  at  intervals  to  the  Jews,  seek- 
ing the  fruit,  and  showing  how  it  should  be  produced ;  and 
that  the  treatment  which  is  stated  to  have  been  given  to 
the  servants  in  the  parable,  was  just  the  treatment  that 
these  prophets  received  from  those  they  came  to.  But  how 
infatuated  is  it  in  a  people  to  destroy  the  prophet,  in  order 
to  escape  the  judgments  that  he  predicts  !  How  absurd  is 
it  to  suppose  that  the  minister  is  your  enemy,  because  ho 
tells  you  the  truth !  If  the  prophet  makes  known  to  you 
that  which  is  not  true,  then  treat  him  as  an  impostor ;  but 
be  sure  that  he  is  not  a  true  prophet.  If  he  speaks  what 
you  know,  on  the  highest  possible  evidence,  is  the  inspira- 
tion and  the  message  of  the  Almighty,  then  you  do  not 
extinguish  the  truth  when  you  make  a  martyr  of  the  wit- 
ness. Truth  does  not  die  with  her  martyrs.  God  does 
not  cease  with  his  witnesses ;  and  whether  you  slay  the 
prophet  on  the  one  hand,  or  exalt  him  to  dignity  on  the 
other,  his  message,  if  the  message  of  God,  is  fixed  as  the 
everlasting  hills ;  and  heaven  and  earth  may  pass  away, 
but  one  jot  or  tittle  of  it  shall  not  fail  until  all  shall  be 
completely  fulfilled.  Remember  then,  that  when  you  hear 
the  gospel  preached  from  the  pulpit,  and  when  that  gospel 
touches  that  part  of  your  conscience  that  you  are  anxious 
to  shield  from  its  touch,  you  do  not,  when  you  escape  from 
the  place,  escape  from  your  responsibility:  you  can  no 
more  escape  from  your  responsibility  than  you  can  escape 
from  yourselves.  Go  into  the  most  distant  deserts,  go  into 
the  Mohammedan  mosque,  or  into  the  Romish  chapel,  go 
where  you  like,  the  truth  you  have  heard  cleaves  to  you, 
inseparable  from  your  soul,  as  its  immortality  and  its  re- 
sponsibility before  God.  Nothing  that  you  can  do  to  the 
witness  will  quench  his  testimony;  nothing  that  you  can 
do  to  the  prophet  will  ease  you  of  your  responsibility.  If 


THE   SON  OF   GOD.  225 

you  have  heard  the  truth,  you  have  received  an  element  of 
responsibility  before  God,  which  time  shall  not  finish,  nor 
eternity  itself  exhaust.  How  absurd  then  to  kill  the  pro- 
phet, thinking  that  thereby  you  get  rid  of  the  judgments 
which  he  has  been  commissioned  to  denounce ! 

Then  when  God'»  servants  were  thus  treated — not  one, 
nor  two,  nor  three,  but,  as  I  have  shown,  all  were  invariably 
so  treated — what  might  we  have  expected?  We  should 
have  expected  judgment.  When  men's  hands  were  stained 
with  the  blood  of  the  prophets  of  the  Lord,  we  should 
have  expected  that  the  judgments  of  that  Lord  would  de- 
scend upon  them,  and  crush  them.  Man's  way  prescribes 
this  treatment;  God's  did  not.  When  God  saw  that  his 
prophets  were  stoned,  and  killed,  and  sawn  asunder,  instead 
of  coming  down  to  the  earth  with  the  lightnings  of  a  right- 
eous retribution,  he  came  upon  the  wings  of  a  sovereign 
and  infinite  mercy,  and  "sent  his  only  begotten  Son,  that 
whosoever  believeth  on  him  might  not  perish,  but  have 
everlasting  life."  How  very  striking  is  this  fact ;  and  what 
evidence  it  gives  us  of  the  intensity  of  that  love  which  God 
bears  to  his  own !  The  hour  when  man's  sin  had  risen  to 
its  maximum,  was  the  hour  when  God's  mercy  overwhelmed 
it,  and  buried  it  in  its  depths.  When  man's  merits  de- 
served only  universal  destruction,  God's  mercy  overcame 
man's  sin  with  good.  Man's  way  is  to  punish  sin  with 
punishment,  and  thus  to  extinguish  it ;  God's  way  is  to  over- 
come evil  with  good,  hatred  with  love,  rebellion  with  mercy, 
and  thus  to  extinguish  it.  "God's  ways  are  not  as  our 
ways,  nor  his  thoughts  as  our  thoughts,  but  as  high  as  the 
heaven  is  above  the  earth,  so  high  are  his  thoughts  above 
our  thoughts."  The  words  are,  "He  sent  unto  them  his 
son,  saying,  They  will  reverence  my  son;"  or,  as  it  is  in 
the  parallel  passage  in  the  Gospel  of  Mark,  "  Having  yet, 
therefore,  one  son,  his  well-beloved,  he  sent  him."  The 


236  FORESHADOWS. 

instant  one  reads  this,  and  knows  that  it  is  a  parable  illus- 
trating great  spiritual  truths,  one  cannot  but  reflect  on  such 
words  as  these :  "  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave 
his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him 
might  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life."  "In  this  was 
manifested  the  love  of  God,  that  he  sent  his  only  begotten 
Son."  He  had  sent  prophets,  and  they  were  slain ;  he  had 
sent  extraordinary  messengers  from  the  skies,  and  they 
were  scorned  and  rejected.  God's  mercy  was  not  to  be 
repressed  by  man's  ingratitude  and  sins.  Where  sin  lite- 
rally abounded,  grace  did  literally  much  more  abound,  for 
God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son. 
Rather  than  that  sinners  should  eternally  perish,  God  re- 
solved that  his  own  Son  should  infinitely  suffer.  What  that 
relationship  may  be  between  the  Father  and  the  Son,  we 
know  not.  The  expression  "Son,"  as  applied  to  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ, -denotes  something  altogether  different  from 
what  it  does  as  applied  to  an  earthly  relationship.  All  that 
we  know  is,  that  the  Father  is  God,  that  the  Son  is  God,  and 
that  the  Holy  Spirit  is  God;  and  yet  that  God  sent  his  only 
begotten  Son.  And  what  does  this  teach  us  ?  That  it  is 
not  true  that  God  loves  us  because  Christ  died  for  us,  but 
that  Christ  died  for  us  because  God  loved  us.  The  very 
common  idea  is,  that  in  dealing  with  God  the  Father,  we 
have  to  deal  with  one  who  is  reluctant  to  forgive  us,  and 
that  we  can  only  prevail  upon  him  to  forgive  us  by  press- 
ing upon  his  notice  the  sufferings  of  his  Son.  But  that  is 
not  the  gospel.  The  gospel  is,  that  Christ  is  the  expres- 
sion of  a  love  that  was,  not  the  creation  of  a  love  that  was 
not.  The  gospel  is,  that  Christ  came  and  died  for  us,  not 
that  God  might  love  us,  but  because  he  so  loved  us.  There- 
fore the  death  of  Christ  is  precious  to  me,  not  only  because 
it  is  fhe  channel  of  a  love  that  was,  but  because  also  it  is 
the  expression  and  evidence  of  that  love  toward  me.  This 


THE   SON   OF   GOD.  237 

great  truth — the  manifestation  of  God's  love  in  Christ 
Jesus — is  the  music  of  heaven  that  awakes  musical  re- 
sponses in  a  thousand  hearts ;  the  manifestation  of  a  love 
on  account  of  which  we  love  him,  because  he  first  loved  us. 
Never,  therefore,  let  us  conceive  of  God  the  Father  as  an 
angry  Judge,  to  be  propitiated  by  our  presenting  the  suf- 
ferings of  Christ ;  but  let  us  think  of  him  as  having  loved 
us  amid  the  wrecks  of  Paradise,  just  as  he  loved  us  in 
Eden's  beautiful  bloom.  Conceive  of  his  having  loved  us 
in  our  sins  as  much  as  he  loved  us  when  we  walked  with 
him  in  Paradise.  Conceive  of  God  loving  us,  not  because 
of  our  sins,  but  in  spite  of  our  sins,  and  giving  us  Christ 
to  suffer,  that  these  sins  might  be  forgiven  in  consistency 
with  his  justice,  and  that  our  souls  might  be  saved  in  har- 
mony with  his  perfect  law,  and  in  accordance  with  his  in- 
finite and  unimpeachable  holiness.  Oh!  the  height,  the 
breadth,  the  length,  the  depth  of  that  love  which  survived 
the  fall,  which  presses  upon  us  still,  of  which  each  man 
may  become  the  subject,  and  each  soul  the  transformed  re- 
cipient, if  that  soul  only  will. 

In  this  fact  of  God's  sending  his  Son  after  he  had  sent 
his  servants,  I  think  we  have  evidence  (though  it  may  seem 
at  the  first  blush  to  be  the  opposite)  of  the  vast  distinction 
between  the  Son  and  the  servants.  The  servants,  we  read, 
were  sent,  and  each  servant,  as  he  was  sent,  was  stoned, 
or  sawn  asunder,  or  slain.  At  last  we  read  that  God  sent 
his  Son,  or,  as  Mark  says,  his  only  and  his  well-beloved  Son. 
Now  this  idea  of  a  distinction  between  the  Son  and  the 
servants  is  beautifully  set  forth  in  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, chap.  iii.  5:  "Moses  verily  was  faithful  in  all  his 
house  as  a  servant,  for  a  testimony  of  those  things  which 
were  to  be  spoken  after."  Then  he  adds,  "But  Christ  as 
a  Sou  over  his  own  house;  whose  house  are  we,  if  we  hold 
fast  the  confidence  and  the  rejoicing  of  the  hope  firm  unto 


238  FORESHADOWS. 

the  end."  Let  us  observe  the  distinction  of  the  apostle. 
He  selects  Moses,  the  most  distinguished  and  exalted  of 
all  the  servants  that  were  sent  to  the  Jews — beyond  all 
comparison  so — and  he  says  Moses  was  simply  a  servant ; 
Christ  was  a  Son  over  his  own  house,  Moses  a  servant  over 
his  Master's  house.  The  distinction,  therefore,  drawn  be- 
tween the  servants  and  the  Son  in  this  parable — a  distinc- 
tion which  the  apostle  Paul  confirms  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews — teaches  us  this, — that  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  was 
not  merely  a  man,  but  that  he  was  also  God.  Take  from 
us  the  deity  of  Christ,  and  you  take  from  us  all  the  gospel 
that  is  worth  retaining ;  because,  if  Christ  be  not  God,  it 
is  utterly  impossible  that  there  can  be  an  atonement.  Sup- 
pose that  Christ  were  what  the  Arian  represents  him  to  be, 
the  most  exalted  of  creatures;  suppose  that  he  is  vastly 
more  than  the  Socinian  will  allow — the  first-born,  the  most 
pure,  the  most  holy,  the  most  perfect  of  creatures ;  then, 
I  say,  from  gospel  revelation,  from  what  we  can  gather  in 
the  Bible  of  every  characteristic  of  God,  his  attributes,  his 
law,  his  will,  that  it  would  have  been  as  unjust  in  God  to 
have  made  that  perfectly  holy  creature  die  for  us,  as  it 
would  have  been  to  have  admitted  us  without  an  atonement 
into  his  immediate  presence.  For  what  is  the  law  of  God's 
universe  ?  That  perfect  holiness  is  perfect  happiness ;  that 
"the  wages  of  sin  is  death."  If,  therefore,  Christ  had  been 
a  perfectly  holy,  exalted,  and  glorious  creature,  we  are  per- 
fectly satisfied,  from  what  God  has  revealed  respecting  him- 
self, that  he  could  not  in  consistency  with  his  justice,  his 
holiness,  his  law,  have  made  that  creature  suffer,  if  he  could 
suffer,  for  the  sins  and  transgressions  of  another.  None 
but  God  had  power  to  lay  down  his  life,  and  none  but  God 
in  human  nature  could  have  had  a  life  to  lay  down.  If  it 
was  a  creature  that  suffered  for  us,  that  creature  could  de- 
serve nothing.  Suppose  Christ  were  a  perfectly  holy  crea- 


THE   SON  OF   GOD.  239 

ture,  when  he  has  done  all  he  can  do,  he  only  yields  to  God, 
the  Sovereign,  that  which  was  due.  A  creature  perfectly 
holy  has  nothing  to  spare ;  and  therefore  if  Christ  died, 
(if  it  were  possible  that  a  holy  creature  could  be  made  by 
the  sovereignty  of  God  to  die  for  others,  contrary  to  that 
law  which  says  that  only  the  soul  that  sins  shall  die,)  then 
we  allege  that  that  creature's  death  would  not  be  of  the 
least  use  to  us.  He  would  have  no  expiatory  element  in 
his  blood ;  he  would  have  no  justifying  righteousness  for 
others ;  he  would  only  have  done  what  the  Sovereign  de- 
creed should  be  done.  Unless  Christ  be  God,  the  atone- 
ment is  a  delusion,  a  fable,  a  dream.  But  we  know  that 
the  Jews  understood  always,  by  the  expression,  "  Son  of 
God,"  that  he  was  God.  For  instance,  in  that  remarkable 
passage  in  John  v.  18,  where  we  read  that  the  "Jews  sought 
the  more  to  kill  him,  because  he  had  not  only  broken  the 
Sabbath,  (as  they  alleged,)  but  said  also  God  was  his  Fa- 
ther." The  words  in  the  original  are  Idtov  Tlarepa — "his 
Father,"  in  that  peculiar  sense  in  which  the  Jews  under- 
stood it,  and  in  which  God  is  the  Father  of  none  besides. 
The  Jews  accused  Christ  of  blasphemy,  because  he  said 
God  was  his  Father,  making  himself  equal  with  God.  They 
understood,  therefore,  by  the  expression,  "Son  of  God," 
deity.  And  our  Lord,  instead  of  disabusing  their  minds, 
if  he  were  not  God,  says  in  the  23d  verse,  "That  all  men 
should  honour  (the  word  is  the  same  as  worship)  the  Son, 
even  as  they  honour  (or  worship)  the  Father.  He  that 
honoureth  not  the  Son,  honoureth  not  the  Father  which 
sent  him," — he  that  rejects  Christ  as  God,  rejects  God  the 
Father.  Hence  the  Socinian's  god  is  not  our  God  at  all; 
he  worships  an  idol,  he  does  not  worship  the  living,  the 
true,  and  only  God.  Thus,  then,  the  greatness  of  the  love 
of  God  is  only  rivalled  by  the  greatness  of  the  oifering. 
God  loved  sinners  just  as  much  as  he  loved  his  own  Son. 


240  FORESHADOWS. 

He  so  loved  us  that  he  gave,  as  the  measure  and  expression 
of  that  love,  his  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believed 
on  him  might  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life. 

We  see,  next,  the  policy  oT  the  Jews,  when  the  Son 
came.  We  read  that  "when  the  husbandmen  saw  him, 
they  said  among  themselves,  This  is  the  heir,  come,  let  us 
kill  him,  and  seize  the  inheritance."  These  words  must 
remind  us  of  a  very  remarkable  passage  in  the  book  of 
Genesis,  where  we  read  that  when  Joseph  came  to  his 
brethren,  » they  said  one  to  another,  Behold,  this  dreamer 
cometh ;  come  now,  therefore,  and  let  us  slay  him,  and 
cast  him  into  some  pit,  and  we  will  say  some  evil  beast 
hath  devoured  him ;  and  we  shall  see  what  will  become  of 
his  dreams."  We  have  the  very  same  passage  illustrated 
in  the  Gospel  of  John  respecting  the  consultation  of 
Caiaphas  and  the  Pharisees,  (chap.  xi.  47. :)  "  Then  gathered 
the  chief  priests  and  the  Pharisees  a  council,  and  said, 
What  do  ye  ?  for  this  man  doeth  many  miracles ;  if  we 
let  him  thus  alone,  all  men  will  believe  on  him,  and  the 
Romans  shall  come  and  take  away  both  our  place  and 
nation.  And  one  of  them,  named  Caiaphas,  being  the 
high  priest  that  same  year,  said  unto  them,  Ye  know 
nothing  at  all,  nor  consider  that  it  is  expedient  for  us,  that 
one  man  should  die  for  the  people," — he  meant,  should  die 
in  order  to  save  the  nation  from  its  destruction  by  the  fo- 
reign foes  that  were  gathered  around  it,  and  prepared  to 
extinguish  it;  and  that  the  whole  nation  should  not 
perish. 

We  have  thus,  then,  the  heir  seized  by  the  scribes, — 
the  Son  of  God  laid  hold  upon  by  the  Jews.  And  on 
what  ground  ?  Not  on  the  ground  that  prophecy  had  told 
they  should  do  so ;  not  upon  the  ground  that  he  had  done 
some  great  crime ;  but  upon  that  ground  on  which  nations, 
kings,  statesmen,  private  Christians,  and  public  men,  have 


THE   SON   OF   GOD.  241 

for  the  last  eighteen  hundred  years  made  shipwreck  a 
thousand  times, — the  ground  of  a  carnal,  a  worldly,  an 
earthly  expediency.  Caiaphas  said  it  was  expedient,  he  did 
not  say  it  was  just,  that  he  should  be  slain.  He  did  not 
say,  "It  is  his  demerits  that  have  brought  him  to  this 
pass  :"  but  he  said,  «  Whether  it  be  just  or  unjust,  whether 
it  be  merciful  or  unmerciful,  are  mere  questions  for  theo- 
logians to  discuss  ;  it  is  a  piece  of  political  expediency  that 
one  man  should  die  for  the  people."  The  priest  of  expe- 
diency prevailed ;  and  the  consequence  was,  like  all  similar 
expediency,  when  not  ba'sed  on  justice  and  animated  by 
truth,  that  it  brought  round  the  very  result  which  it  was" 
intended  to  deprecate  and  stave  off.  We  read,  for  instance, 
in  the  case  of  the  brethren  of  Joseph,  that  their  efforts  to 
destroy  him  were  overruled  to  exalt  him  to  a  throne ;  and 
we  see,  in  the  conduct  of  the  Pharisees,  that  their  efforts  to 
keep  off  the  Roman  from  their  land,  were  the  very  efforts 
— the  very  sins  before  God — that  brought  down  upon  them 
the  desolations  of  Titus  and  Vespasian,  till  one  stone  was 
not  left  standing  upon  another.  Truth  and  justice  are  al- 
ways expedient.  Expediency,  or  what  seems  so,  is  not 
always  truth  and  justice.  A  house  built  upon  truth  and 
justice  shall  stand  fixed  and  lasting  like  the  stars.  A 
capitol  based  upon  expediency  rests  on  sand.  When  a 
rotten  brick  is  introduced  into  the  noblest  temple,  it  will 
ultimately  hasten  its  destruction.  It  is  not  the  breadth  of 
the  foundation,  or  the  height  of  the  superstructure,  but 
the  purity  and  the  justice  of  it,  that  are  elements  of  per- 
petuity, and  strength,  and  stability  for  ever.  It  is  not  out- 
ward patronage,  but  inward  principle,  that  is  mighty.  It 
is  not  exterior  glory,  but  it  is  mercy,  and  truth,  and  right- 
eousness, and  peace,  that  are  mightier  than  all  opposing 
elements,  and  that  survive  all  efforts  to  destroy  or  to  sup- 
plant them. 

II.    SEE.  21 


242  FORESHADOWS. 

Let  us  observe,  in  the  next  place,  not  only  the  false  ex- 
pediency on  which  they  acted,  but  also  the  self-righteous- 
ness and  folly  which  they  exhibited.  They  said,  "Let  us 
kill  the  heir,  and  seize  the  inheritance."  The  brethren 
of  Joseph  thought  if  they  could  get  rid  of  Joseph,  they 
would  occupy  the  place  of  favour  in  their  father's  bosom, 
which  now  was  left  empty.  The  Jews,  the  scribes,  and 
Pharisees  thought  if  they  could  only  get  rid  of  Christ, 
they  would  enjoy  perfect  peace,  and  last  long  as  a  prosper- 
ous nation  ;  and  the  Pharisees  thought  if  they  could  only 
destroy  him  and  keep  out  Christianity,  they  would  still 
enjoy  that  monopoly  of  privilege,  of  honour,  of  dignity, 
and  power,  which  they  had  so  long  perverted  and  abused. 
They  therefore  fancied  that  if  they  could  get  rid  of  this 
heir,  they  might  then  seize  the  inheritance.  They  thought 
they  had  righteousness  enough  to  deserve  it,  and  strength 
enough  to  grasp  it.  As  well  might  they  have  tried  to  soar 
without  wings,  or  to  clasp  the  lightnings  of  the  skies,  and 
gather  the  thunders  into  their  bosoms,  as  to  seize  that  in- 
heritance which  is  pronounced  by  him  that  cannot  lie  to  be 
the  inheritance  of  him  who  is  constituted  heir  of  all  things. 
Does  not  this  teach  us  a  very  important  lesson  ?  What  is 
all  science  seeking  to  subdue  the  earth  to  itself,  without 
Christianity,  but  man  seeking  to  seize  the  inheritance  of 
which  Christ  alone  is  the  heir  ?  What  is  all  commerce,  all 
legislation,  which  is  not  based  upon  Christian  principle, 
but  man  trying  to  grasp  by  human  might  what  can  only  be 
conceded  to  divine  and  Christian  principle  ?  What  is  all 
education  of  the  young,  which  is  not  leavened  and  saturated 
with  important  and  scriptural  truths,  but  man  trying  to 
grasp  that  soul  and  make  it  his  slave,  which  belongs  to 
him  who  is  the  heir  of  soul  and  body,  and  the  inheritor,  as 
he  is  the  Maker,  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible  ?  And 
what,  in  every  instance,  have  been  the  results  of  such 


THE   SON   OF   GOD.  243 

efforts,  but  building  on  the  sand,  stretching  out  the  hand 
to  grasp  what  is  not  our  own,  and  withdrawing  that  hand 
withered,  paralyzed,  and  disabled  ?  In  their  expediency, 
then,  in  their  folly  and  self-righteousness,  they  caught  him, 
(that  is,  the  Son,)  and  they  cast  him  out ;  or,  as  it  is  ex- 
pressed by  the  apostle,  "  crucified  him  without  the  gate," 
— an  unclean  sacrifice,  not  fit  for  presentation  in  Jerusa- 
lem ;  he  would  be  only  offered  up  without  the  gate  as  an 
anathematized  and  execrated  thing. 

There  are  still  one  or  two  points  that  are  really  worthy 
of  attention.  The  first  is,  that  the  Jews'  treatment  of  Christ 
was  according  to  the  express,  clearly  indicated,  long  pre- 
viously announced  purposes  of  God.  We  read  in  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  "  Those  things  which  God  before  hath  showed 
by  the  mouth  of  his  holy  prophets,  that  Christ  should  suffer, 
he  hath  so  fulfilled."  Again,  in  chap.  xxiv.  27,  "For  of  a 
truth,  against  the  holy  child  Jesus,  whom  thou  hast  anointed, 
both  Herod  and  Pontius  Pilate,  with  the  Gentiles  and  people 
of  Israel,  were  gathered  together,  for  to  do  whatsoever  thy 
hand  and  thy  counsel  determined  before  to  be  done."  It  was 
God's  purpose,  which  was  proclaimed  from  everlasting.  It 
was  as  impossible  that  Judas  should  not  betray,  that  Pilate 
should  not  condemn,  that  Caiaphas  should  not  acquiesce, 
that  the  Jews  should  not  cry,  Crucify  him !  Away  with  him ! 
as  it  was  impossible  that  God's  word  should  fail,  or  God's 
promises  prove  a  lie.  It  was  the  purpose  of  God  from 
everlasting  that  it  should  be  so.  But  you  say,  (and  the 
difficulty  lies  here,)  If  all  this  was  the  purpose  of  God, 
then  who  hath  resisted  him  ?  And  how  far  can  man  be 
charged  with  crime  for  fulfilling  the  purposes  of  God  ?  I 
answer,  that  if  you  should  see  a  prophecy  the  most  clear, 
you  have  no  business  to  try  to  fulfil  it.  We  have  nothing 
to  do  with  fulfilling  prophecies;  we  have  only  to  do  with 
obeying  precepts.  Here  was  the  grand  error  of  the  Mid- 


244  FORESHADOWS. 

die  Ages.  It  was  clearly  predicted  that  the  Jews  should 
be  a  scoff,  a  by-Avord,  a  mockery,  in  every  land,  that  they 
should  be  hunted  and  persecuted,  that  they  should  have  no 
rest  for  the  soles  of  their  feet.  What  did  the  medieval 
popes,  prelates,  priests,  and  people  do?  They  said,  "God 
has  predicted  that  the  Jew  shall  be  maltreated  everywhere ; 
let  us  imprison  him,  let  us  extract  his  teeth,  let  us  rob 
him,  let  us  burn  him."  All  that  was  their  crime  and  their 
wickedness  in  the  sight  of  God.  The  prophecy  lies  under 
the  eye  and  in  the  immediate  charge  of  the  Almighty,  and 
he  will  see  it  fulfilled.  The  precept  lies  at  our  door,  and 
we  are  responsible  only  for  obedience  or  disobedience  to 
it.  Here,  then,  there  was  the  purpose  of  God  clearly  an- 
nounced, but  it  was  not  the  part  of  the  Jews,  or  the  scribes 
or  Pharisees,  even  if  they  saw  that  prophecy  and  under- 
stood that  purpose,  to  attempt  to  fulfil  it.  But  to  show 
that  they  did  it  of  their  own  free-will,  and  that  because 
God  had  purposed,  man  was  not  blameless,  I  refer  to  the 
statement  of  the  apostle,  Acts  ii.  22,  where  he  combines 
the  two  things  clearly  together.  "Ye  men  of  Israel,  hear 
these  words ;  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  a  man  approved  of  God 
among  you,  by  miracles,  and  wonders,  and  signs,  which 
God  did  by  him  in  the  midst  of  you,  as  ye  yourselves  also 
know:  him,  being  delivered  by  the  determinate  counsel 
and  foreknowledge  of  God,  [here  was  the  purpose ;  it  was 
not  accident,  it  was  not  chance,  but  prearrangement. 
What  does  he  add  ?]  ye  have  taken,  and  by  wicked  hands 
[observe,  here  is  the  crime,  notwithstanding  the  purpose 
of  God]  have  crucified  and  slain."  So  in  chap.  iii.  14, 
"But  ye  denied  the  Holy  One  and  the  Just,  and  desired 
a  murderer  to  be  granted  unto  you ;  and  killed  the  Prince 
of  life  whom  God  hath  raised  from  the  dead ;  whereof  we 
are  witnesses."  We  see  that,  in  the  apostle's  mind,  God's 
sovereignty  and  man's  responsibility  did  not  clash  in  the 


THE    SON   OF    GOD.  245 

least;  and  so  little  afraid  was  that  apostle  that  there  should 
be  seen,  or  felt  to  be,  any  dissonance,  that  he  states  in  one 
breath  the  sovereign  and  the  everlasting  purpose  of  God, 
and  the  criminality,  and  therefore  the  weighty  responsi- 
bility, of  those  that  murdered  the  Lord  of  glory.  This  we 
know  to  be  a  fact,  that  whatever  be  God's  purposes,  they 
neither  trammel,  nor  clash,  nor  interfere  with  the  un- 
fettered freedom  and  action  of  man.  We  know  that  every 
thing  we  do  is  done  spontaneously ;  we  feel  that  every  sin 
that  we  commit  is  done  deliberately.  There  will  not  be 
one  lost  spirit  shivering  at  the  judgment-seat  of  God  that 
will  say,  » I  sinned,  because  there  pressed  on  me  the  ocean- 
load  of  an  everlasting  decree  which  I  could  not  resist." 
Nor  will  there  be  one  lost  spirit  in  the  realms  of  misery 
who  Avill  be  able  to  say,  "I  am  here  in  spite  of  my  own 
volitions,  and  under  impulses  that  were  as  irresistible  as 
omnipotence  itself."  Every  man  who  is  saved,  is  saved 
by  the  sovereignty  of  grace:  every  man  who  is  lost, 
perishes  a  suicide  by  his  own  deliberate  and  wilful  act  and 
deed.  Thus  we  feel,  that  the  purposes  of  God,  however 
clear,  and  the  doings  of  man,  are  perfectly  compatible. 
The  one  does  not  clash  with  the  other.  And  blessed  be 
God,  how  beautiful  it  is,  that  while  the  apostle  in  the  Acts 
told  of  God's  purpose  and  men's  criminality,  he  added, 
"  Repent  ye  therefore,  and  be  converted  every  one  of  you, 
that  your  sins  may  be  blotted  out."  In  other  words,  as 
long  as  there  is  life  so  long  there  is  forgiveness ;  as  long 
as  we  have  a  heart  to  feel,  a  tongue  to  plead,  or  affections 
to  cleave  to  Christ,  so  long  there  is  complete  forgiveness. 
The  apostle  called  upon  the  Jews  that  instant  to  repent, 
that  instant  to  believe,  and  that  instant  their  sins  would 
be  blotted  out.  It  is  just  this  we  have  to  preach  still — a 
glorious  amnesty,  wide  as  the  world,  coextensive  with  all 
that  will ;  free  forgiveness,  not  on  account  of  any  thing 

21* 


240  FORESHADOWS. 

we  have  done,  or  any  thing  we  can  do,  or  any  thing  we 
are,  but  freely  received  by  faith,  and  bestowed  in  that  love 
which  loved  us  in  spite  of  our  sins,  and  loves  us  still  in 
spite  of  our  resistance  to  its  efforts.  "Repent,"  says  the 
apostle,  "  and  be  converted,  that  your  sins  may  be  blotted 
out." 

Our  Lord,  when  he  had  explained  the  treatment  received 
by  the  Son,  asks,  "What  will  he  do?"  The  scribes  and 
Pharisees  pronounced  their  own  condemnation,  when  they 
said,  "He  will  miserably  destroy  those  men."  It  appears 
the  Pharisees  saw  that  it  referred  to  them,  but  were  too 
cautious,  too  cunning  and  practised  politicians,  to  let  it  be 
known  before  the  multitude.  Hence,  in  the  Gospel  of 
Mark,  we  read  of  the  people  breaking  in  and  saying,  "  God 
forbid;"  evidently  understanding  that  the  parable  referred 
to  their  nation,  and  that  their  nation  would  be  destroyed, 
unless  they  repented,  returned  from  their  wickedness,  and 
embraced  the  truth.  Then  we  have  our  Lord  varying  the 
imagery:  "Have  ye  never  read,  (he  says,)  The  stone 
which  the  builders  rejected  is  become  the  head-stone  of 
the  corner?"  Psalm  cxviii.  Why  did  he  thus  vary  the 
imagery  ?  Plainly  for  this  reason :  If  he  had  closed  the 
parable  with  the  murder  of  the  Son,  it  would  have  seemed 
to  teach  that  the  Jews  had  succeeded,  and  that  there  was 
an  end  to  every  thing  like  a  fulfilment  of  the  final  purposes 
of  the  gospel  of  Christ.  But  he  drew  in  a  different  image 
— an  image  familiar  to  the  mind  of  the  Jew,  for  there  was 
not  a  Jew  who  did  not  believe  that  the  118th  Psalm  re- 
ferred to  the  Messiah ;  and  so  popular  was  that  impression, 
that  when  Peter  was  preaching,  as  we  read  in  the  Acts,  he 
said  to  them,  "  This  is  the  stone  which  was  set  at  nought 
by  you  builders,  but  which  is  now  become  the  chief  corner- 
stone," or  "head-stone  of  the  corner."  Every  Jew  under- 
stood that  that  referred  to  the  Messiah.  When  our  Lord 


THE   SON   OF   GOD.  247 

added  this,  therefore,  he  not  only  showed  that  God's  pur- 
pose to  have  a  people  to  himself  should  not  be  frustrated, 
but  that  him  they  crucified,  he  would  raise;  the  stone 
they  cast  away  as  worthless,  he  would  make  the  head- 
stone of  the  corner.  They  thought  that  when  they  had 
crucified  the  Lord  of  glory,  they  had  crossed  the  purposes 
of  God.  They  thought,  when  they  closed  Good  Friday, 
that  there  never  would  be  an  Easter  morn.  They  fancied 
the  stone  that  was  rolled  upon  the  sepulchre  was  the  close 
of  the  apostles'  hopes,  as  it  was  the  termination  of  the 
Messiah's  life.  But  they  were  utterly  mistaken.  Him 
they  crucified,  God  exalted;  and  "he  ascended  up  on  high, 
led  captivity  captive,  and  gave  gifts  unto  men."  I  need 
not  explain  that  the  corner-stone  is  the  stone  that  is  the 
chief  ornament  of  the  building.  It  is  used  to  denote  dig- 
nity in  Eastern  countries.  The  corner  of  the  divan  is 
always  the  place  where  the  most  eminent  guests  sit.  In 
Samuel  we  read,  "Draw  near,  ye  corners  of  the  people;" 
that  is,  "ye  chief  persons."  Again,  God  says,  "I  have 
cut  off  the  corners  of  the  people;"  meaning  again,  the 
chief  persons  of  the  people.  The  corner-stone  is  also  used 
to  denote  beauty,  as  in  Psalm  cxliv.,  "That  our  daughters 
may  be  as  corner-stones,  polished  after  the  similitude  of  a 
palace."  It  denotes  the  union  of  Jew  and  Gentile,  and 
of  all  that  arc  scattered. 

To  close  these  plain  practical  remarks.  First,  let  us 
recollect  that  when  God  sent  his  Son  into  the  world,  he 
said,  "They  will  reverence  my  Son."  The  Jews  did  not 
do  so ;  the  question  now  is,  do  we  ?  Why  should  we  re- 
verence Christ?  why  worship  him?  why  welcome  him? 
It  is  natural  that  we  should  do  so,  when  we  think  of  the 
dignity  of  his  person.  Who  was  Christ?  The  Everlasting 
God,  the  Wonderful,  the  Mighty  Counsellor,  the  King  of 
kings,  the  Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth.  Surely,  if  the 


248  FORESHADOWS. 

nations  believed  that  the  Creator  of  the  universe  was  to 
pay  a  visit  to  the  world,  the  procession  that  should  meet 
him  on  the  earth,  one  would  suppose,  would  only  be  sur- 
passed by  that  procession  of  beauty  and  of  splendour  that 
accompanied  him  to  the  skies.  It  was  but  reasonable  to 
say,  therefore,  "  They  will  reverence  my  Son."  But  he 
is  more  than  our  Creator.  He  has  a  particular  relation- 
ship to  us.  He  is  our  Benefactor.  By  him  all  things 
were  made ;  without  him  was  not  any  thing  made.  But 
he  is  our  ceaseless  Benefactor.  All  the  blessings  that  we 
have,  all  the  mercies  that  the  Jews  reaped,  all  the  mani- 
festations of  God  that  they  saw,  were  directly  from  Christ. 
Knowing  then  that  he  was  all  this,  was  it  not  natural  to 
conclude,  "  Surely  they  will  reverence  my  Son  ?" 

Let  us  also  notice  the  errand  on  which  Christ  came. 
He  came  not  in  a  procession  of  glory,  to  be  admired, 
applauded,  and  adored  by  a  happy  universe ;  but  to  suffer 
that  we  might  rejoice,  to  be  wounded  for  our  transgressions, 
to  bear  our  iniquities,  to  die  the  Just  for  the  unjust,  that 
we  might  have  life.  Surely,  if  he  comes  on  such  an 
errand,  men  will  smooth  the  path  on  which  he  walks, 
lighten  his  agony,  at  least,  by  their  sympathy,  mitigate 
his  sufferings  by  showing  how  truly  they  appreciate  what 
he  has  done.  Surely  it  was  reasonable  to  say,  "  They  will 
reverence  my  Son."  If  God  upon  the  throne  was  worthy 
of  a  world's  hosanna,  surely  God  upon  the  cross  suffering 
for  them  was  more  worthy  still. 

Let  us  ponder,  in  the  next  place,  the  interesting  infor- 
mation that  Christ  came  to  give.  He  not  only  came  to 
suffer  for  us,  but  he  came  to  give  us  the  most  interesting 
information  that  man  ever  listened  to.  How  anxiously  do 
we  wait  for  tidings  from  distant  lands  !  How  delighted 
are  we,  when  we  hear  of  some  new  star  that  has  shot  into 
view,  or  some  new  glimpse  that  men  have  obtained  of  the 


THE   SON   OF   GOD.  249 

contents  or  inhabitants  of  the  planets  around  our  own  ; 
How  anxious  are  we  to  hear,  like  the  Athenians  of  old, 
what  is  interesting  or  new !  Christ  is  the  only  messenger 
that  came  from  the  future.  He  tells  what  is  in  the  grave, 
what  is  beyond  the  grave,  and  how  bright  is  that  home, 
how  blessed  is  that  companionship,  of  which  his  people  are 
heirs.  Surely,  if  such  a  messenger  came  with  that  mes- 
sage, it  was  but  natural  to  say,  "  They  will  reverence  my 
Son."  And  when  we  consider  the  perfection  of  his  cha- 
racter, the  purity  of  his  walk,  the  holiness  of  all  he  did, 
the  glory  with  which  he  spoke,  so  that  his  enemies  said, 
"Never  man  spake  like  this  man,"  we  might  conclude, 
«  They  will  reverence  my  Son."  Plato,  the  ancient  and 
most  illustrious  of  all  the  heathen  philosophers,  who  was 
believed,  with  Socrates  his  master,  to  have  stood  upon  the 
very  highest  pinnacle  of  the  earth,  and  to  have-  caught 
some  of  the  first  beams  of  the  rising  Sun  of  righteousness, 
made  this  remarkable  statement — that  if  God  were  to 
send,  what  he'  wished  he  would  sejjd,  some  great  repre- 
sentative o_f  himself  from  the  skies,  all  men  would  instantly 
fall  down  and  do  him  homage.  In  other  words,  Plato 
expressed  what  Christ  himself  has  embodied  in  this  parable, 
"  They  will  reverence  my  Son."  Plato's  wish  was  fulfilled ; 
the  half-prophecy,  half-yearning  of  his  heart  was  realized. 
God  sent  not  an  earthly  messenger,  but  his  only  Son,  and 
he  himself  said,  "Surely  they  Avill  reverence  my  Son:" 
and  the  response  that  was  given  to  it  was,  "Away  with 
him  !  Away  with  him  !  Crucify  him  !  Crucify  him  !"  And 
they  crucified  him  between  two  thieves,  one  on  either  side, 
writing  over  him  in  mockery,  "Jesus  of  Nazareth,  the 
King  of  the  Jews."  But  perhaps  it  will  be  said,  The 
Jews  are  to  be  excused,  as  they  knew  not  the  greatness, 
the  beauty,  and  the  preciousness  of  him  whom  they  cruci- 
fied. Perhaps  it  extenuates  their  crime,  perhaps  it  palli- 


250  FORESHADOWS. 

ates  the  enormity  of  their  transgression.  But  if  the 
Jews  are  to  be  excused  on  the  ground  that  they  did  not 
know  who  Christ  really  was,  we  cannot  plead  that  ground. 
We  know  what  they  did  not  know ;  points  in  his  character 
that  were  in  the  shadow  then,  are  luminous  now;  truths 
that  were  hieroglyphics  then,  are  clearly  and  unequivocally 
stated  now.  Let  me  ask,  Do  you  reverence  the  Son  ? 
Does  his  name  give  its  colouring  to  your  every  action  ? 
Is  it  the  music  of  your  every  feeling  ?  Is  it  lisped  by  your 
babes  ?  Is  it  gloried  in  by  your  strong  men  ?  Is  it 
clasped  in  death  as  the  passport  to  immortality  and  glory 
by  your  dying  men  ?  Do  you  reverence  him  by  loving 
him  ?  by  speaking  for  him  ?  by  sacrificing  for  him  ?  and, 
if  needful,  by  suffering  for  him  ?  If  his  name  is  precious 
to  you,  do  you  show  that  it  is  so  by  praying  that  it  may  be 
felt  and  seen  as  precious  by  others  also?  What  Chris- 
tianity enables  you  to  sacrifice,  is  just  the  measure  of  its 
hold  upon  you.  What  it  enables  you  to  triumph  over,  is 
just  the  outward  exponent  of  its  depth,  and  height,  and 
strength,  and  length,  and  breadth  within  you.  A  man  is 
Christian  just  in  proportion  to  what  he  can  do,  dare, 
suffer,  proclaim,  to  reverence  the  Son  of  G-od.  Blessed 
will  that  future  be  in  which  angels  and  redeemed  creatures 
will  reverence  with  us  the  Son  of  God. 

0  Lord,  make  us  to  be  numbered  with  thy  saints  in 
glory  everlasting. 


251 


LECTURE  XVI. 


THE   TWO    GENERATIONS. 

And  he  said  also  unto  his  disciples,  There  was  a  certain  rich  man,^  which  had  a 
steward;  and  the  same  was  accused  unto  him  that  he  had  wasted  his  goods. 
And  he  called  him,  and  said  unto  him,  How  is  it  that  I  hear  this  of  thee  ? 
give  an  account  of  thy  stewardship ;  for  thou  rnayest  be  no  longer  steward. 
Then  the  steward  said  within  himself,  what  shall  I  do  ?  for  my  lord  taketh 
away  from  me  the  stewardship:  I  cannot  dig;  to  beg  I  am  ashamed.  I  am 
resolved  what  to  do,  that,  when  I  am  put  out  of  the  stewardship,  they  may 
receive  me  into  their  houses.  So  he  called  every  one  of  his  lord's  debtors 
unto  him,  and  said  unto  the  first,  How  much  owest  thou  unto  my  lord  ?  And 
he  said,  An  hundred  measures  of  oil.  And  he  said  unto  him,  Take  thy  bill, 
and  sit  down  quickly,  and  write  fifty.  Then  said  he  to  another,  And  how 
much  owest  thou?  And  he  said,  An  hundred  measures  of  wheat.  And  he 
said  unto  him,  Take  thy  bill,  and  write  fourscore.  And  the  lord  commended 
the  unjust  steward,  because  he  had  done  wisely :  for  the  children  of  this 
world  are  in  their  generation  wiser  than  the  children  of  light. — LUKE  xvi.  1-8. 

THE  great  lesson  which  our  Lord  draws  from  the 
parable  I  have  read,  is  contained  in  the  last  verse,  the  8th : 
"The  children  of  this  world  are,  in  their  generation, 
wiser  than  the  children  of  light."  This  is  the  only  prac- 
tical maxim  which  he  deduces  from  the  narrative.  We  are 
not  warranted  in  constructing  on  the  narrative  alien  lessons, 
or  extorting  from  it  inferences  it  is  not  meant  to  teach. 

I  may  explain,  first  of  all,  that  the  "lord"  here  spoken 
of  was  an  ancient  nohleman  of  very  high  rank — probably 
a  satrap,  or  the  governor  of  a  very  large  district  of 
country.  The  "steward"  was  a  very  responsible  officer, 
corresponding  in  some  degree  to  a  prime  minister  or  a 
treasurer. — a  person  invested  with  great  power,  and  having 


252  FORESHADOWS. 

only  to  render  annually  to  his  lord  his  accounts  of  all  his 
expenditure  and  receipts. 

It  appears  that  this  steward  was  accused.  The  words 
of  the  parahle  are,  "  The  same  was  accused  unto  him  that 
he  had  wasted  his  goods."  From  the  mere  naked  ex- 
pression "  accused,"  it  might  be  supposed,  and  has  been 
supposed  by  some,  that  he  was  accused  falsely.  But  this 
may  be  settled  by  a  reference  to  the  use  of  the  word  in 
the  prophet  Daniel,  (chap.  iii.  8,)  where  we  read  that 
"  certain  Chaldeans  came  near,  end  accused  the  Jews." 
Accused  them  of  what  ?  Of  worshipping  the  true  God, 
and  not  worshipping  the  gods  of  the  heathen — an  accusa- 
tion so  far  just,  because  it  was  sustained  by  the  facts  of 
the  case,  but  yet  very  malignant.  This  steward  may 
have  been  accused  malignantly  ;  he  may  have  been  accused 
out  of  spite  by  those  who  detested  him,  but  he  was  not 
accused  falsely.  He  was  justly  accused  of  the  crime  ;  and 
of  that  crime  there  is  no  extenuation,  or  apology,  or  vin- 
dication attempted  throughout  the  parable. 

The  master,  or  the  lord  of  the  steward — the  satrap  or 
the  governor — sends  for  him,  and  addresses  him  in  lan- 
guage severe  from  its  gentleness :  "  How  is  this  that  I  hear 
this  of  thee?"  Never  is  rebuke  so  poignant  as  when  it 
is  conveyed  in  soft  and  gentle  accents.  It  is  a  great  mis- 
take to  suppose  that  outrageous  language  is  the  best 
vehicle  of  censure.  That  rebuke  pierces  the  deepest,  which 
is  clothed  in  the  language  of  love  ;  and  the  most  sensitive 
heart  always  feels  most  the  rebuke  that  comes  from  the  lips 
of  one  that  is  loved.  "  How  is  it  that  I  hear  this  of  thee  ? 
— thee,  whom  I  had  intrusted  with  all;  thee,  whom  I 
have  treated  as  a  confidential  servant ;  thee,  whom  I  have 
selected  for  thine  honesty,  raised  from  a  lowly  position, 
and  placed,  as  it  were,  at  my  right  hand — how  is  it  that  I 
hear  this  of  thee.  I  am  surprised,  I  am  disappointed,  I 


THE   TWO   GENERATIONS.  253 

am  grieved ;  it  is  in  sorrow  that  I  find  tliee  guilty.  We 
must  part ;  give  an  account  of  thy  stewardship  ;  thou  canst 
no  longer  remain  in  the  office  the  responsibilities  of  which 
thou  hast  violated  ;  get  ready,  therefore,  all  thine  accounts, 
and  lay  them  before  me  without  delay."  Miserable  must 
have  been  that  man's  feeling.  Honesty  has  within  it  an 
inner  radiance  that  makes  the  blackest  clouds  of  affliction 
bright ;  but  conscious  crime,  with  desolation  without,  and 
no  compensatory  joy  within,  must  be  misery,  wretchedness, 
remorse.  Nobody  knows  what  happiness  is  concentrated 
in  doing  what  is  right ;  it  is  God's  law  that  the  highest 
duty  is  the  highest  happiness,  and  that  misery  begins,  and 
is  augmented,  in  the  ratio  in  which  we  depart  from  duty. 

The  steward  assumed,  as  we  perceive,  that  such  dis- 
honesty was  sure  of  detection.  He  "said  within  him- 
self, What  shall  I  do  ?  for  my  lord  taketh  away  from  me 
the  stewardship:  I  cannot  dig:  to  beg  lam  ashamed." 
His  own  conscience  smote  him ;  he  attempted  no  excuse  ; 
he  felt  that  he  was  detected,  and  that  nothing  could  be 
said  in  his  defence,  and  he  therefore  sets  about  making  a 
provision  for  what  contingencies  were  to  come.  The  apho- 
rism repeated  for  many  hundred  years  is  still  true — 
"  Honesty  is  the  best  policy."  No  man  ever  gets  rich 
with  that  which  is  not  his  own.  A  little,  with  the  con- 
science at  peace  with  God  and  man,  is  sweet ;  much,  amid 
the  fever  of  remorse,  generates  no  happiness.  When  the 
steward  was  detected,  he  had  no  sense  of  the  baseness  of 
his  conduct,  and  ingratitude  to  so  affectionate  a  lord  and 
master  ;  but,  in  the  exercise  of  intense  selfishness,  he  sets 
about  making  the  best  of  the  circumstances,  and  trying, 
from  the  wreck,  to  get  something  that  would  float  him  to  a 
quiet  and  peaceful  haven.  "  What  shall  I  do  ?"  he  says  ; 
"  this  at  all  events  I  must  do ;  I  will  make  the  very  best 
of  my  position  that  I  can  ;  I  will  try  at  least  to  break  my 

II.  SER.  22 


254  FORESHADOWS. 

fall ;  I  will  not  think  of  any  thing  wrong  I  may  have  done, 
I  will  not  try  to  make  amends  to  my  lord,  but  I  will  try  to 
make  a  provision  for  myself.  How  shall  I  go  about  it?" 
He  sets  his  wits  to  work,  concentrating  all  his  thoughts 
upon  his  position,  and  says,  "  I  cannot  dig,  I  have  not 
been  accustomed  to  hard  work,  my  hands  are  too  tender, 
my  habits  are  too  delicate,  it  is  impossible  that  I  can  stand 
the  wear  and  tear  and  toil  of  husbandry ;  this  is  out  of 
my  power,  physically  I  am  unfit  for  that.  Then  I  am 
ashamed  to  beg."  Strange  it  is,  but  true,  that  the  man 
should  be  ashamed  of  begging  who  was  not  ashamed  of 
stealing ! — strange  that  he  would  rather  be  a  detected 
criminal  than  a  discovered  beggar  !  And  yet  have  we 
not  something  analogous  to  this  in  the  current  feeling 
of  the  world  ?  Many  a  man  would  rather  be  thought  a 
clever  rogue  than  a  stupid,  but  honest  man.  In  this 
world,  to  be  clever  compensates  too  often  for  obliquities  of 
character  in  the  depraved  estimate  of  degraded  man; 
whereas  to  be  honest,  arid  upright,  and  good,  and  true,  if 
not  accompanied  with  brilliancy  of  genius,  is  reckoned  no 
very  great  merit.  And  yet  I  believe  with  the  poet  that 
"  an  honest  man  [using  the  word  "honest"  in  its  Latin  and 
in  its  Scottish  sense]  is  the  noblest  work  of  God."  And 
that  man  who  is  what  he  should  be,  in  spite  of  circum- 
stances pressing  toward  an  opposite  direction,  is  a  more 
glorious  spectacle  than  Milton,  Shakspeare,  or  Napoleon. 
A  holy  heart  is  more  beautiful  by  far  than  genius — and 
surely  more  precious  before  God. 

What,  in  his  critical  position,  was  the  plan  the  steward 
hit  upon  ?  He  could  not  dig — there  was  the  impossibility 
of  his  position  ;  he  would  not  beg,  there  lay  the  pride  of 
his  nature,  for  this  very  modest  man,  who  did  not  fear  to 
steal,  was  ashamed  to  be  found  begging.  He  hits  then 
upon  a  very  clever  plan — for  rogues  are  clever,  and  dis- 


THE   TWO   GENERATIONS.  255 

honest  men  are  often  found  to  have  very  sharp  wits, — a 
plan  that  would  enable  him  to  revenge  himself  upon  his 
lord  for  turning  him  away,  and  that  would  also  help  him, 
in  his  guilty  necessities,  to  better  his  now  desperate  cir- 
cumstances. How  sad  it  is  that  genius — that  great  pre- 
rogative, that  emanation  and  spark  of  deity — should  be 
so  debased  and  degraded  that  it  can  prostrate  .itself  to  be 
a  mere  tool  and  hack  to  a  corrupt  heart,  and  hire  itself  to 
invent  schemes  for  gratifying  its  corruptions,  and  minis- 
tering to  its  lusts !  His  plan  is  this :  he  goes  to  each 
person  who  owed  his  lord  money  for  goods  received.  "  He 
said  unto  the  first,  How  much  owest  thou  unto  my  lord  ? 
And  he  said,  An  hundred  measures  of  oil.  And  he  said  unto 
him,  Take  thy  bill,  and  sit  down  quickly,  and  write  fifty. 
Then  said  he  to  another,  And  how  much  owest  thou  ?  And 
he  said,  An  hundred  measures  of  wheat.  And  he  said 
unto  him,  Take  thy  bill  and  write  fourscore."  The  "bill" 
seems  to  have  been  a  note  of  hand,  in  which  the  party 
that  received  the  oil  and  the  wheat  recognised  the  fact 
that  he  had  received  a  specific  amount  at  a  certain  price, 
and  was  bound  to  pay  at  a  certain  time.  The  steward  in 
all  probability  said,  "  Give  me  up  the  old  document,  note, 
or  bill,  and  let  us  cancel  it ;  and  as  I  am  still  in  authority 
and  not  yet  dismissed  till  I  give  an  account  of  my  steward- 
ship, we  will  write  out  a  new  bill ;  you  will  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  getting  so  much  more  goods,  and  paying  so 
much  less  money,  and  then  I  shall  have  done  such  a  favour 
to  you,  that  you  will  give  me  a  home,  when  my  master 
turns  me  about  my  business."  Or,  perhaps,  his  plan  was 
to  alter  the  figures — to  turn  a  "  0"  into  a  "  9,"  or  add  a 
"  0"  to  a  "1";  or  do  some  of  those  tricks  which  are 
known  among  the  most  degraded  in  trade.  "  So  that 
you  will  have  the  advantage  of  a  large  quantity  of  goods, 
and  my  master  will  have  the  disadvantage  of  a  very  little 


256  FORESHADOWS. 

sum  for  it ;  and  I  shall  have  the  less  to  account  for,  and 
hope,  for  obliging  you,  that  you  will,  in  turn,  quietly  and 
secretly  oblige  me."  Here  is  the  whole  policy  that  he 
pursued — cunning,  subtle,  and,  I  doubt  not,  temporarily, 
though  not  permanently,  successful. 

Then  it  is  immediately  added,  "  And  the  lord  commended 
the  unjust  steward."  I  need  not  remark  that  "the  lord" 
is  the  master  of  the  steward  spoken  of  throughout  the  pa- 
rable :  it  would  be  very  foolish  and  very  wrong  for  any  one 
to  suppose  that  it  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  the  lord 
who  is  spoken  of  in  the  previous  verses.  "A  certain  rich 
man,"  we  are  told,  "had  a  steward."  "The  steward  said 
within  himself,  what  shall  I  do,  for  <  my  lord'  taketh  away 
from  me  the  stewardship."  This  same  "my  lord"  who  is 
here  spoken  of  is  the  party  who  commended  the  unjust 
steward.  He  was  not  the  Lord  Jesus.  His  master  com- 
mended him  "because  he  had  done  wisely."  Our  transla- 
tion is  not  perfectly  accurate.  It  would  be  better  trans- 
lated "prudently,"  "cleverly,"  "cunningly,"  because  wis- 
dom is  always  associated  with  rectitude;  cunning  and 
cleverness  are  more  appropriately  associated  with  crime. 
In  order  to  see  the  force  of  this  commendation,  we  must 
observe  that  the  conduct  of  the  steward  had  two  aspects 
— one  aspect,  its  dishonesty,  on  which  his  master  pro- 
nounced no  eulogium ;  the  other,  its  cleverness,  its  talent, 
its  tact,  its  management,  on  which  his  master  did  pro- 
nounce an  eulogium.  Perhaps  the  lord  of  the  steward  was 
very  much  of  the  same  character  as  the  steward  himself, 
and  had  not  the  least  objection  to  the  crime,  but  only  to 
the  injury  it  did  to  himself;  perhaps  he  was  struck  with 
the  tact  and  ability  of  the  steward,  and,  having  no  great 
or  delicate  sense  of  moral  obligation  and  responsibility 
himself,  broke  forth  into  high  praise  of  the  talent  dis- 
played; while,  probably,  he  stormed  and  raged  at  the  loss 


THE   TWO   GENERATIONS.  257 

lie  had  himself  sustained.  He  could  admire  his  talent ;  he 
would  have  admired  and  applauded  the  crime,  if  the  crime 
had  not  touched  himself,  and  made  him  poorer  than  he 
wished  to  be. 

Is  it  not  true,  that  every  deed  of  a  desperate,  bold,  bad 
man,  has  something  in  it  which  catches  the  fancy,  and 
charms  by  its  brilliancy  ?  Is  it  not  fact,  that  in  the  case 
of  one  criminal,  while  you  condemn  the  crime,  you  cannot 
but  admire,  or  rather  wonder  at,  the  brilliancy  with  which 
he  executed  it ;  you  reprobate  the  action,  and  yet  you  are 
struck  with  the  tact  and  the  talent  with  which-  that  action 
is  done ;  you  cannot  but  condemn  the  dishonesty,  and  yet 
you  are  impressed  with  the  far-seeing  and  calculating 
scheme  with  which  it  is  connected.  It  is  possible  to  sepa- 
rate the  cunning  from  the  crime,  and  yet  not  make  one  an 
atonement  or  apology  for  the  other. 

At  this  point  I  am  reminded  of  the  importance  of  no- 
ticing what  is  the  greatest  mischief  done  by  many  novel- 
ists, in  their  portraits  of  wicked  men.  Their  policy  is 
this  :  they  take  for  a  hero  some  criminal  of  great  noto- 
riety; their  prime  object  being,  perhaps,  to  sell  the  book, 
and  I  speak  only  of  the  apparent  object  that  lies  upon 
the  face  of  it,  they  select  the  most  notorious  roue*  from 
the  calendars  of  Newgate ;  they  tone  down,  with  a  mas- 
ter touch,  all  his  infamy,  his  impurity,  his  dishonesty, 
his  shame;  and  they  exalt,  and  throw  into  the. foreground, 
arrayed  in  the  most  brilliant  colours,  his  boldness,  his  de- 
cision, his  tact,  his  talent :  exaggerating  the  brilliant  in 
his  character ;  softening  and  removing  into  the  distance 
the  inherent  repulsiveness  of  his  crimes.  The  young  mind 
reads  such  a  novel ;  it  sees  brilliancy  of  conduct  associated 
with  depravity  of  heart,  and  in  its  inexperience,  and  from 
its  deep  susceptibility,  it  comes  to  admire  the  hero  when 
it  should  hate  the  criminal.  Hence  if  novelists  write  Jack 

22* 


258  FORESHADOWS. 

Shephards  for  the  press,  and  reading  libraries  adopt  them, 
we  must  be  prepared  with  the  penal  colony  and  capital 
convictions.  This,  then,  is  the  danger  of  the  novel ;  the 
writers  seize  upon  the  bright  spots  irradiated  by  intellec- 
tual light,  and  in  these  they  set  off  criminality  that  cannot 
be  too  darkly  coloured.  This  is  very  much  the  case  in 
plays.  We  generally  find  that  the  hero  of  the  plot  has  a 
great  deal  of  wickedness  and  depravity  about  him,  but  a 
good  deal  of  off-hand  generosity  and  sparkling  talent.  If 
he  is  a  man  of  genius,  then  the  play  lets  him  be  impudent ; 
if  he  is  a  man  of  rank,  the  play  gives  him  license  to  be 
contemptuous,  and  to  refuse  to  pay  his  bills  or  cheat  cle- 
verly the  poor  tradesman ;  or  if  he  be  a  brave  soldier,  he 
is  allowed  to  fight  duels ;  or  if  he  be  a  man  of  fine  ap- 
pearance, and  great  liberality,  he  is  excused,  perhaps 
praised,  if  he  ruins  unsuspecting  innocence.  Should  you 
venture  to  denounce  such  persons  as  guilty  of  the  greatest 
crimes,  they  will  laugh  at  your  puritanism,  and  challenge 
you  to  fight  a  duel  if  you  suspect  their  word.  So  great 
then  is  the  danger  of  the  novel,  the  romance,  and  the  play, 
especially  when  they  are  written  by  men  who  look  at  the 
results,  or  the  proceeds,  or  the  possible  eclat,  and  not  at 
the  moral  influence  they  are  likely  to  exert. 

I  may  however  remark,  that  there  is  no  sin  in  merely 
seeing  a  play  or  a  drama  unexceptionably  acted.  I  think 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  vulgar,  foolish  prejudice  against 
the  play,  the  drama,  and  the  actor,  as  if  these  were  all  in 
themselves  essentially  and  inevitably  sinful.  The  sin  lies 
in  the  fact  which  stares  you  in  the  face,  that  the  playhouse 
is  practically  at  present  the  centre  of  evil ;  it  is  the  first 
inducement  to  apprentices  to  open  their  master's  till-boxes, 
and  appropriate  what  is  not  their  own ;  one  of  the  first 
places  where  the  barriers  of  virtue  are  broken  down,  where 
indelicacy  is  too  often  in  the  ascendant,  and  no  purifying 


THE    TWO   GENERATIONS.  259 

or  counteracting  element  of  good,  as  far  as  I  know,  seems 
to  be  in  action.  But  if  you  say,  "I  have  that  lofty  tone, 
that  spirituality  of  character,  that  firmness,  that  force  of 
principle,  that  I  could  go  to  a  playhouse,  and  not  be  the 
least  touched  or  contaminated  by  doing  so;"  well  if  you 
can  conscientiously  pray  before  you  enter,  "  Lord,  lead  us 
not  into  temptation,"  you  perhaps  may  make  the  experi- 
ment, and  escape  untouched,  without  the  least  taint  of  evil. 
But  are  you  quite  sure  that  your  son,  your  daughter,  your 
friend,  your  sister,  who  will  follow  your  example,  and  be 
exposed  to  the  same  contagion,  have  and  will  manifest  a 
force  of  principle  and  a  strength  of  character  adequate  to 
resist  the  possible  evil  ?  You  set  an  example  which  would 
be  perhaps  free  from  evil,  if  all  the  world  were  as  firm  and 
steadfast  as  you  are ;  but  your  example  the  weak,  the  sus- 
ceptible, may  imitate,  but  not  escape  with  the  same  un- 
touched feeling  and  untainted  heart.  The  safe  way  in  all 
questions  of  business,  of  politics,  and  of  controversy,  is  to 
think  twice  before  you  decide ;  but  in  all  moral  questions 
the  first  impression  is  generally  the  truest.  If  a  moral 
course  needs  elaborate  defence,  you  may  be  sure  there  is 
something  doubtful  about  it.  If  I  were  to  announce  that 
I  was  going  to  preach  on  the  character  of  the  playhouse, 
I  venture  to  assert  that  I  should  receive  all  sorts  of  letters 
defending  it ;  all,  by  an  instinct  truer  than  logic,  taking  it 
for  granted  that  I -should  speak  against  it.  There  is  a 
consciousness  in  most  bosoms  that  there  is  something 
wrong  about  present  play-going  which  needs  much  logic  to 
be  put  in  a  right  light. 

I  have  thus  then  spoken  of  the  two  aspects  which  are 
often  presented  in  men's  conduct  and  character — the  bril- 
liancy of  intellect  side  by  side  with  depravity  of  conduct. 
Let  us  never  bring  forward  a  brilliant  mind  as  in  any  de- 
gree extenuating  a  depraved  character.  Strength  of  in- 


260  FORESHADOWS.        l»v ; 

tellect  renders  only  more  inexcusable  corruption  of  heart. 
The  one  does  not  and  ought  not  to  relieve  the  other.  The 
lord  of  the  steward  disentangles  these  two  ;  and  if  he  was, 
what  I  supposed  he  may  not  have  been,  an  honest  and  up- 
right man,  he  would  have  said,  "I  condemn  the  villany  of 
the  man  ;  I  applaud  the  forethought  of  the  man  ;  I  separate 
the  one  from  the  other  ;  the  one  I  reserve  for  denunciation, 
and  the  other  I  quote  for  illustration."  Our  Lord  says, 
"You  have  in  the  forethought,  in  the  talent,  in  the  energy, 
in  the  cleverness  of  that  man  a  rebuke  to  the  children  of 
light.  The  children  of  this  world,  whose  days  are  measured 
by  it,  whose  hopes  are  bounded  by  it,  whose  fears,  whose 
joys  are  all  within  it,  are,  in  their  sphere  and  in  their  cir- 
cumstances, distinguished  by  a  talent,  an  energy,  and  force 
of  character,  by  which  the  people  of  God  are  not  distin- 
guished and  characterized  in  a  higher  sphere,  and  in  the 
pursuit  and  prospect  of  more  glorious  hopes." 

This  is  the  great  lesson  that  our  Lord  here  desires  to 
impress,  and  let  us  look  around  and  see  if  it  be  not  needed. 
The  first  feature  that  was  developed  by  the  steward,  was 
subordinating  all  present  things  to  a  future  provision  for 
himself;  his  resolution,  what  to  do  for  the  present,  was 
preparatory  to  what  to  be  for  the  future ;  he  sets  his  wits 
to  work,  not  in  trying  to  make  apologies  or  extenuations, 
or  in  any  respect  mitigating  the  enormity  of  his  crime,  but 
to  make  the  best  of  the  present  with  a  view  to  the  amelio- 
ration of  his  circumstances  in  reference  to  the  future  ;  and 
this  point  in  his  character  our  Lord  submits  to  us  for  com- 
mendation. The  children  of  this  world  toil  at  present  to 
be  rich,  ten,  twenty,  thirty  years  hence ;  they  labour  when 
young,  in  order  that  they  may  retire  when  old.  Whether 
this  be  right  or  wrong,  is  not  the  question ;  it  is  simply  the 
fact.  If  we  notice,  for  instance,  the  aspirant  after  office 
and  promotion — how  he  will  deny  himself,  and  be  silent 


THE   TWO   GENERATIONS.  261 

where  speech  would  be  indiscreet,  in  order  to  obtain  the 
office  or  the  object  of  his  ambition ;  if  we  watch,  too,  the 
man  of  business — how  he  will  subordinate  every  present 
inconvenience,  in  order  to  obtain  the  great  profit  that  he 
hopes  to  be  the  result ;  we  shall  soon  see  the  children  of 
this  world  are  wiser  in  their  generation  than  the  children 
of  light.  Let  this  teach  us  to  view  the  whole  present  in 
its  bearing  and  its  reference  to  the  future.  You  are,  for 
instance,  in  the  selection  of  a  school,  to  think  of  the  world 
to  come ;  in  the  selection  of  a  minister,  you  must  subordi- 
nate the  ecclesiastical,  and  think  mainly  of  the  spiritual ; 
in  the  selection  of  a  profession,  think  whether  it  will  ob- 
struct or  advance  your  progress  to  immortal  glory ;  in  the 
change  of  a  residence,  take  into  calculation,  if  you  like, 
the  beauty  of  the  park,  the  age  of  the  trees,  the  strength 
of  the  building,  the  convenience  of  the  rooms,  but  also  lift 
that  curtain  that  separates  the  future  from  the  present,  and 
look  at  your  new  house  in  the  light  of  an  eternity  to  come. 
We  are  thus  to  make  all  things  present  to  be  seen,  and  felt, 
and  weighed  in  the  scales  of  heaven,  and  in  the  light  of 
the  sanctuary  of  God.  This  is  the  first  lesson  ;  this  steward 
looked  at  the  present  in  the  light  of  the  future,  and  made 
the  present  as  far  as  he  could  a  ministry  to  his  happiness 
in  the  future. 

"We  notice,  in  the  next  place,  the  energy  and  the  activity 
with  which  the  men  of  this  generation  ply  their  employ- 
ments, and  the  comparative  coldness  and  apathy  with  which 
the  children  of  light  prosecute  theirs.  Take  a  thorough 
man  of  business  in  London,  one  who  is  applauded,  built 
upon,  quoted,  and  referred  to  as  such.  I  do  not  look  at 
or  praise  his  merging  his  heart  in  the  world,  this  is  not  my 
present  duty,  but  I  look  simply  at  this  point  in  his  character 
— the  energy  with  which  he  prosecutes  the  business  he  haa 
in  view  ;  he  is  early  in  the  counting-house,  he  is  late  at  the 


202  FORESHADOWS. 

ledger,  he  is  watching  against  every  error  that  may  be  com- 
mitted, every  loss  that  may  be  sustained,  and  turning  un- 
toward events  into  elements  of  progress,  prosperity,  and 
gain;  he  is  ever  ready  to  seize  time  by  the  fore-lock,  to 
catch  the  favourable  wind  while  it  blows,  to  be  out  upon 
the  tide  before  it  ebbs ;  and  you  say,  he  does  well,  and 
that  he  will  prosper.  He  for  a  corruptible  ;  we  for  an  in- 
corruptible. If  he  so  toils,  so  strives,  so  labours,  so  con- 
centrates his  whole  soul  in  his  pursuit  of  the  riches  of  mam- 
mon, do  we  strive  to  enter  into  the  strait  gate?  do  we  fight 
the  good  fight  ?  do  we  so  run  that  we  may  obtain  ?  do  we, 
forgetting  the  things  that  are  behind,  press  onward  to  those 
that  are  before  ?  Is  it  not  true — too  extensively  true — that 
the  children  of  this  world  are,  in  their  generation,  far  wiser 
than  the  children  of  light? 

Let  us  study  another  point  of  contrast,  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  the  men  of  this  world  prosecute  their  business. 
On  the  supposition  that  this  world  is  all,  nothing  can  be 
more  worthy  than  such  conduct ;  on  the  supposition  that 
this  world  is  but  the  preparation  for  another,  nothing  can 
be  so  sad  and  sorrowful.  Yet  notice  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
men  of  this  world.  Watch  the  chemist  in  his  laboratory; 
early  in  the  morning  and  late  at  night  he  is  pursuing  his 
tests,  his  analyses,  and  combinations.  Watch  that  geologist 
in  his  museum  ;  why  he  spends  more  time  over  an  old  limb 
of  some  old  fossil,  or  a  small  bone  that  belongs  to  some 
ichthyosaurian  monster,  before  the  flood,  than  a  Christian 
spends  over  the  whole  word  of  God.  Notice  that  astrono- 
mer in  his  observatory,  morning,  noon,  and  night;  if  a 
comet  is  in  the  infinitely  remote  horizon,  he  catches  the 
first  beam  of  it ;  if  a  new  star  comes  within  the  range  of 
his  telescope,  he  is  sure  to  see  it  and  make  it  known.  Look 
at  the  musician,  the  barrister,  the  physician,  the  sailor  on 
the  deck,  the  soldier  in  the  field — with  what  enthusiasm, 


THE   TWO   GENERATIONS.  263 

with  what  singleness  of  eye,  with  what  energy  of  heart  they 
prosecute  the  objects  that  are  precious  and  important  in 
their  estimate,  and  in  their  judgment !  But  compare  with 
this  the  coldness  with  which  we  pray,  the  callousness  with 
which  we  hear.  Christian  tradesmen  tell  us  they  cannot 
afford  to  be  heart  and  soul  Christian ;  they  must  concen- 
trate their  whole  soul  upon  each  penny,  upon  each  pound, 
upon  all  the  profit,  or  they  would  lose  all,  would  have  to 
put  up  their  shutters,  and  retire  from  business  altogether. 
This  is  then  a  surrender  of  religion  as  a  holocaust  to  the 
world.  Yet  what  energy  is  theirs !  Verily,  the  children 
of  this  world  are,  in  their  generation,  much  wiser  than 
the  children  of  light.  Let  us  look  around  us;  what  do  we 
see?  Earnestness  in  the  market,  earnestness  in  the  par- 
liament, earnestness  in  the  courts  of  law,  earnestness  in 
the  navy,  earnestness  in  the  army,  earnestness  everywhere, 
except  where  its  intensity  should  be  the  greatest,  and 
where  it  should  glow  and  burn  with  inextinguishable 
splendour.  We  shall  be  charged  at  the  judgment-day,  if 
we  miss  the  great  prize,  with  this  terrible  and  corroding 
recollection — that  we  expended  more  earnestness  and  en- 
thusiasm in  gaining  five  per  cent.  upon,a  speculation,  than 
ever  we  expended  in  seeking  that  knowledge  beside  which 
all  knowledge  becomes  tame,  and  that  gain  beside  which 
all  gain  is  but  loss.  Depend  upon  it,  it  is  not  more  logic 
that  we  want,  but  more  life  in  our  hearts  and  in  our  con- 
sciences; and  I  am  sure  of  this,  that  earnestness,  right- 
down  earnestness  in  the  chapel,  will  be  a  match  any  day 
for  coldness  in  a  cathedral ;  I  am  convinced  that  a  bare- 
footed Carmelite  friar  preaching  in  a  parish  the  supersti- 
tions of  Rome  will  make  many  converts,  while  the  starch- 
ed rector,  or  the  courtier  bishop,  standing  on  their  digni- 
ties and  dues,  will  make  none  at  all.  "We  may  rest  assured 
that  the  reason  why  delusion  spreads  is,  because  it  has 


264  FORESHADOWS. 

earnest  men  to  spread  it;  the  reason  why  living  Christian- 
ity falters,  hangs  back,  and  dies  upon  the  lips  that  utter 
it,  is  just  because  there  is  so  little  intensity  of  purpose  and 
energy  of  heart  manifested  in  its  diffusion.  I  speak  of 
natural  energy,  of  natural  earnestness;  and  I  appeal  to 
every  man  if  it  be  not  true  that  in  the  army,  in  the  navy, 
in  the  cabinet,  in  the  parliament,  in  the  palace,  every- 
where the  children  of  this  world  are,  in  their  generation, 
wiser  than  the  children  of  light. 

Notice  in  the  next  place,  the  unity  with  which  the  chil- 
dren of  this  world  act.  Let  there  be  a  corporation  or  a 
company  formed  for  the  promotion  of  some  great  object; 
and  we  find  how  cleverly  they  submerge  all  their  intestine 
disputes,  in  order  to  reap  the  golden  harvest  that  they  have 
in  view.  Take  an  illustration  from  the  army :  let  the  foe 
be  in  sight,  let  the  enemy  be  approaching,  do  you  ever  hear 
that  the  Scottish  branch  of  the  army  falls  foul  of  the 
English,  or  that  either  turns  round,  and  fires  upon  the 
Irish?  No,  they  merge  these  little  disputes,  which  were 
strong  and  rampant  enough  in  their  barracks,  and  combine, 
and  coalesce,  and  concentrate  all  in  the  vindication  of  the 
throne  under  whose  shadow  they  are  happy,  and  fight  in 
the  maintenance  of  that  flag  which  has  waved  for  a  thou- 
sand years  over  the  field  of  victory.  Why  should  it  not 
be  so  among  Christians?  Why  should  the  Churchman  turn 
round  upon  the  Dissenter,  and  the  Dissenter  upon  the 
Churchman,  knowing  that  the  devil  is  powerful  enough, 
that  darkness  is  thick  enough,  that  the  enemies  of  our  com- 
mon Christianity  are  numerous  enough,  to  engage  all  the 
energies  of  all?  Why  is  it,  I  ask,  that  the  children  of 
light  should  quarrel  about  crotchets,  about  church  govern- 
ment, about  church  and  state,  when  all  their  might,  enthu- 
siasm, energy,  prayer,  and  labour  are  demanded  for  the 
spread  and  maintenance  of  the  gospel  of  Christ?  Wliy 


THE   TWO   GENERATIONS.  265 

should  it  be  that  in  this  matter  the  children  of  this  world 
are  so  much  wiser  than  the  children  of  light  ? 

Having  noticed  these  points  of  contrast,  I  will  notice  one 
more, — the  liberality  of  the  children  of  this  world.  Let 
there  be  a  national  gallery  to  be  raised  for  pictures,  a  play- 
house, or  an  opera-house,  or  any  one  thing  to  be  effected 
that  may  be,  in  itself,  perfectly  harmless,  and  how  rea- 
dily is  it  accomplished !  I  am  not  speaking  of  the  nature 
of  the  thing;  I  am  speaking  of  the  liberality  of  the 
persons  that  support  it.  I  read  only  the  other  day 
of  a  person  who  laid  out  nearly  .£200,000  in  the  purchase 
of  pictures.  I  am  not  condemning  that ;  one  rejoices  that 
art,  painting,  poetry,  music,  should  have  such  patrons.  Let 
an  oratorio  be  announced  at  Exeter  Hall,  and  though  every 
one  pays  five  shillings  or  ten  shillings  to  be  admitted,  it 
will  probably  be  crowded;  but  let  a  sermon  be  announced 
in  it  on  a  week-day  evening,  and  though  people  are  admit- 
ted gratis,  you  will  find  probably  very  few  in  comparison 
present.  How  is  this?  Let  the  children  of  this  world 
propose  any  thing,  and  thousands  come  to  support  it ;  they 
say  money  is  wanted  for  some  patriotic  thing,  and  money 
is  poured  in  to  secure  it.  But  how  little  is  given,  compara- 
tively, for  the  gospel,  the  distribution  of  the  Bible,  the  ex- 
tension of  Christianity  at  home  and  abroad !  Are  we  really 
aware  that  more  than  ten  times  the  amount  of  all  that  is 
given  to  Bible  and  missionary  societies,  is  given  in  the  shape 
of  duty  upon  ardent  spirits  ?  Are  we  rightly  informed  that 
in  Scotland,  while  they  are  fighting  and  quarrelling  with 
each  other,  both  Free  Seceders,  United  Seceders,  and 
Churchmen  are  spending  more  upon  whiskey  than  they 
give  to  spread  the  gospel,  uphold  the  Bible,  or  maintain  the 
church  of  Christ !  These  things  ought  not  to  be ;  but  they 
teach  us,  and  teach  us  painfully,  and  with  conscious  defi- 
ciency on  our  own  part,. that  the  children  of  this  world  are, 

II.  SER.  23 


266  FORESHADOWS. 

in  their  generation,  more  liberal,  more  energetic,  more  wise 
than  the  children  of  light. 

But  our  Lord  draws  another  lesson  from  this,  and  to 
that  I  would  very  briefly  advert :  "  I  say  unto  you,  make 
to  yourselves  friends  of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness, 
that  when  ye  fail  they  may  receive  you  into  everlasting 
habitations."  The  mammon  of  unrighteousness  here,  I 
believe,  is  simply  a  contrast  with  the  other  "riches."  It 
does  not  mean  that  you  are  to  take  money  that  is  not  your 
own,  or  money  that  is  unrighteously  obtained ;  but  simply 
money  which,  contrasted  with  the  "true  riches,"  is  the 
worldly,  the  earthly,  and  the  unrighteous  mammon ;  and 
so  to  make  it,  "that  when  ye  fail,  they  may  receive  you 
into  everlasting  habitations."  This  is  a  very  important 
lesson  in  an  age,  when  the  temple  of  mammon  seems  to 
have  taken  the  place  of  that  of  Moloch,  when  man's  rea- 
son is  made  a  mere  book-keeper,  and  man's  soul  is  made  a 
mere  implement  of  trade,  and  man's  heart  is  made  a  mere 
mill,  and  life  is  lost  in  livelihood.  I  say,  such  a  lesson  as 
that  which  is  here  given  is  a  very  important  one.  What 
does  it  mean  ?  It  does  not  say,  "make  to  yourselves  merit 
of  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness  ;"  nor,  "  make  to  your- 
selves a  title  to  heaven  by  the  mammon  of  unrighteous- 
ness ;"  nor,  "make  to  yourselves  an  atonement  by  bestow- 
ing the  mammon  of  unrighteousness."  The  meaning  is, 
make  to  yourselves  friends  by  means  of  the  mammon  of 
unrighteousness,  or  by  bestowing  liberally  your  money,  in 
clothing  the  naked,  in  feeding  the  hungry,  in  giving  water 
to  the  thirsty ;  make  to  yourselves  friends  of  those  who 
are  either  callous  or  positively  hostile ;  so  that  when  ye 
fail — that  is,  when  ye  die — these,  the  objects  of  your 
bounty,  the  objects  of  your  Christian  beneficence,  being 
the  children  of  God,  may  be  found  standing  at  the  gates 
of  glory,  to  welcome  you  to  their  happy  choirs,  as  bene- 


THE   TWO   GENERATIONS.  267 

factors  whose  beneficence  they  tasted  and  were  delighted 
with  on  earth.  This  is  the  plain  sense  of  the  passage.  It 
means  that  thus  your  wealth  may  be  as  wings,  not  weights ; 
that  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness  may  be  transmuted 
into  the  true  riches.  It  does  not  say  that  you  will  gain 
heaven  by  your  money ;  but  it  does  show,  that  by  giving 
money  to  Christ's  people,  and  to  Christ's  cause,  you  raise 
up  persons  who  will  pray  for  you  on  earth ;  and  you  will 
find  that  if  these  people  have  been  made  Christians  by 
your  means,  they  will  be  found  standing  at  the  gates  of 
glory,  bidding  you  welcome  into  that  place  into  which  they 
have  entered  before  you ;  you  adding  to  the  thrill  of  joy 
that  pervades  them,  and  they,  by  their  reception,  aug- 
menting the  joy  of  which  you  then  have  a  foretaste.  That 
this  idea  is  taught  in  Scripture,  is  plain  from  such  passages 
as  this :  "  Charge  them  that  are  rich  in  this  world,  that 
they  be  not  high-minded,  nor  trust  in  uncertain  riches,  but 
in  the  living  God,  who  giveth  us  all  things  richly  to  enjoy; 
that  they  do  good,  that  they  be  rich  in  good  works,  ready 
to  distribute,  willing  to  communicate,  laying  up  in  store 
for  themselves  a  good  foundation  against  the  time  to  come, 
that  they  may  lay  hold  upon  eternal  life."  Thus  we  are 
taught,  that  what  you  lay  out  upon  the  people  of  God,  in 
feeding  the  hungry ,~  clothing  the  naked,  instructing  the 
ignorant,  in  Bibles,  in  bread,  in  missions,  is  the  only 
money  that  can  never  perish.  If  the  storm  that  has  swept 
the  continent  of  Europe  shall  be  permitted,  in  righteous 
retribution,  to  sweep  our  land  also,  then  the  only  money 
that  cannot  be  taken  from  you  is,  not  that  which  is  fixed 
in  your  acres,  or  deposited  in  the  funds,  but  that  which 
has  preceded  you  in  spreading  the  glorious  gospel,  minis- 
tering to  the  naked,  enlightening  the  ignorant,  feeding  the 
hungry,  and  doing  good,  as  you  have  opportunity,  unto  all 
men.  It  is  Christians,  of  course,  that  are  addressed  here, 


268  FORESHADOWS. 

when  it  is  said,  "Make  to  yourselves  friends  of  the  un- 
righteous mammon ;"  lay  up  for  yourselves  unsearchable 
riches,  and  make  the  riches  that  perish  the  means  of  your 
doing  so.  This  is  in  perfect  harmony  with  such  passages 
as  these:  "With  good  will  doing  service,  as  to  the  Lord, 
and  not  to  men ;  knowing  that  whatsoever  good  thing  any 
man  doeth,  the  same  shall  he  receive  of  the  Lord."  There 
is  the  doctrine  of  Christian  reward.  Christ  alone,  I  have 
repeated,  is  the  foundation  of  our  acceptance,  the  Holy 
Spirit  alone  our  sanctifier  for  glory ;  and  yet  each  man's 
happiness  is  augmented  in  the  ratio  in  which  each  man 
has  laid  out  the  talent  which  God  has  given  to  him.  Again, 
"Whosoever  shall  give  to  one  of  these  little  ones  a  cup  of 
cold  water  in  the  name  of  a  disciple,  verily  I  say  unto  you, 
he  shall  not  lose  his  reward."  "Blessed  are  the  dead  that 
die  in  the  Lord ;  they  rest  from  their  labours,  and  their 
works  do  follow  them" — not  precede  them,  you  will  ob- 
serve, but  follow  them  as  seals  and  evidences  of  what  they 
were ;  the  Lord  our  righteousness  shall  still  have  all  the 
glory  of  our  forgiveness;  the  Lord  the  Spirit  shall  still 
have  all  the  glory  of  our  fitness  for  heaven.  In  other 
words,  we  are  taught  here  to  do  what  constitutes  the  great 
happiness  of  man — that  is,  to  be  beneficent,  to  be  good. 
To  do  good  is,  to  a  Christian,  the  very  highest  happiness. 
Those  words  in  our  language  which,  mean  the  highest  hap- 
piness, are  words  which  mean  being  out  of  self,  beyond 
oneself:  "  ecstasy,"  standing  out  of  self ;  "rapture,"  car- 
ried away  from  self ;  "transport,"  borne  beyond  self.  All 
the  words  which  denote  the  highest  happiness  imply  the 
least  selfishness,  and  doing  the  greatest  good  to  others. 
Our  Lord  himself  has  defined  such  happiness  in  these 
words,  "It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive."  And 
that  man's  Christianity  has  not  reached  its  meridian 
brightness  who  cannot  say,  "I  have  felt  more  happiness 


THE   TWO   GENERATIONS.  269 

in  giving  that  sovereign  to  that  poor  man,  than  I  ever  felt 
in  winning  that  sovereign  as  the  reward  of  my  labours." 
And  let  me  ask,  what  can  be  more  delightful  than  to  make 
the  heart  of  the  orphan  glad,  and  the  widow's  soul  to  sing 
for  joy  ?  What  can  be  more  joyous  than  to  snatch  spoils 
from  Satan,  and  make  them  trophies  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven  ?  What  can  be  greater  delight  to  us  than  to  aug- 
ment that  current  that  rises  from  below,  and  will  be  lost 
in  the  joys  and  splendours  of  the  everlasting  main  ?  What 
can  be  more  worthy  of  a  Christian  and  a  redeemed  soul, 
than  to  make  oneself  to  be  felt  as  a  shower  of  blessings,  so 
that  when  we  leave  the  world,  the  world  shall  feel  that  we 
have  neither  been  a  curse  nor  a  blank  to  it,  but  a  gigantic 
and  a  lasting  blessing  ?  To  be  pronounced  good  is  better 
than  to  be  pronounced  great ;  and  he  who  does  the  highest 
good  is  he  that  gives  evidence  of  the  highest  principle, 
and  so  will  have  the  experience  of  the  greatest  happiness. 
One  word  in  concluding  this  parable.  Recollect  that 
we  are  all  stewards.  "  Give  an  account  of  thy  steward- 
ship," will  be  addressed  to  every  man.  Each  man  has  his 
property,  his  rank,  his  talent,  his  influence,  his  power, 
whatever  it  be,  however  small,  as  a  stewardship ;  and  each 
must  answer  to  God  how  he  has  made  use  of  that  steward- 
ship. How  dreadful,  if  the  only  reminiscence  should  be 
this :  "  I  have  used  the  mighty  influence  which  my  position 
in  society  gave  me  in  countless  mischievous  courses,  or  in 
doing  nothing  at  all  for  those  amid  whom  I  was  placed !" 
How  sad  to  another  will  be  such  a  reminiscence  as  this ; 
"  I  have  used  money  in  horse-racing,  in  gambling,  in  all 
sorts  of  amusement,  and  there  is  not  one  widow  that  can 
bless  me,  nor  one  orphan  that  can  thank  me,  nor  one  com- 
forted soul  that  can  say,  '  I  got  a  Bible,  which  if  you  had 
not  given,  I  never  should  have  received !' '  What  a  ter- 
rible reminiscence  will  this  be  at  the  day  of  judgment : 


270  FORESHADOWS. 

"  My  talent,  which  God  gave  me,  I  have  used  in  writing 
novels,  in  composing  plays,  in  gilding  the  bad  side,  in 
darkening  the  bright,  the  holy,  and  the  good ;  I  have  used 
all  my  talent  in  novels,  in  puns,  in  witticisms,  in  any  thing 
and  every  thing  except  giving  a  tribute  of  glory  to  Him 
from  whose  altar  it  was  kindled,  and  shedding  light  upon 
the  path  of  the  pilgrim  who  had  otherwise  perished !" 
What  a  reminiscence  will  it  be  for  us,  if  we  recollect  at 
the  judgment-seat,  "We  heard  in  that  place  many  a  faith- 
ful and  honest  sermon ;  this  we  can  say,  that  if  we  have 
not  had  the  truth  made  brilliant,  we  have  had  the  truth 
honestly,  and  bluntly,  and  plainly  spoken ;  we  have  had 
the  Bible  half  a  century ;  we  have  heard  the  gospel  ten, 
fifteen,  twenty  years ;  we  have  been  appealed  to  for  mis- 
sions, and  for  churches,  and  for  schools  ;  and  lo !  we  laid 
out  as  much  last  week  upon  some  little  ornament  for  the 
drawing-room  as  we  ever  laid  out  in  spreading  Bibles,  in 
extending  the  gospel,  in  clothing  the  naked,  in  feeding  the 
hungry!"  My  dear  friends,  ought  these  things  to  be  so? 
I  am  perfectly  sure  of  this,  that  the  church  of  Christ  has 
never  yet  done  what  it  ought  to  have  done.  All  we  have 
ever  given  have  been  superfluities.  No  man  yet  ever 
stinted  himself,  or  very  few  at  least,  to  do  a  grand  benefi- 
cent act  which  would  make  the  world  better,  holier,  hap- 
pier. In  a  few  years,  every  one  of  us  must  render  an  ac- 
count to  God.  The  address  Avill  be  made  to  us,  "Give  an 
account  of  thy  stewardship."  Then  let  us  take  a  leaf 
from  the  book  of  the  dishonest  steward ;  let  us  repudiate 
his  dishonesty;  let  us  adopt  his  energy,  his  talent,  his 
tact ;  let  us  concentrate  all  we  have,  all  we  say,  upon  the 
main  and  master  end,  namely,  seeking  first  the  kingdom 
of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  then  all  other  things 
will  be  added  unto  us.  In  education,  seek  to  make  your 
children  Christians  first;  leave  accomplishments  for  the 


THE   TWO   GENERATIONS.  271 

postscript.  In  selecting  a  minister  to  preach  the  gospel 
to  you,  seek  first  of  all  a  faithful  man,  a  spiritual  man,  an 
honest  man ;  next  an  eloquent  man,  a  Churchman  or  a 
Dissenter.  In  providing  for  the  future,  first  the  soul,  that 
is  the  main  thing ;  next  the  poor  tent,  which  must  soon  be 
struck,  that  the  soul  may  resume  its  march  to  immortality. 
Do  not  provide  for  the  future  up  to  death,  and  leave  the 
greater  part  of  the  journey  altogether  unprovided  for.  Look 
not  into  the  depths  of  that  ruin  which  lost  souls  have  pre- 
pared for  themselves  ;  but  look  rather  to  the  heights  of  that 
glory  which  disinterested  love,  which  precious  blood,  which  a 
glorious  Saviour,  in  his  sovereignty,  and  in  his  mercy,  and 
in  his  grace,  has  procured  for  us.  And  when  I  ask  you, 
"How  much  owest  thou  unto  my  Lord?"  may  the  Spirit 
of  God  help  you  to  feel,  and  help  me  to  feel,  that  we  owe 
all  we  are,  and  all  we  hope  for,  and  ten  thousand  times  ten 
thousand  more  than  heart  can  conceive,  or  tongue  can  tell ! 
When  at  length  we  are  admitted  into  that  millennial  bliss, 
of  which  our  highest  spiritual  enjoyment  now  is  but  a  faint 
prelibation,  how  surprised  shall  we  be  to  find  that  any  man 
so  clave  to  things  temporal,  that  he  lost  all  interest  in 
things  eternal ;  and  was  so  wise  about  the  world  that  was, 
that  he  missed  his  portion  in  the  world  that  is. 


272 


LECTURE  XVII. 

FORGIVEN   AND   FORGIVING. 

Therefore  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven  likened  unto  a  certain  king,  which  would 
take  account  of  his  servants.  And  when  he  had  begun  to  reckon,  one  was 
brought  unto  him,  which  owed  him  ten  thousand  talents.  But  forasmuch  as 
he  had  not  to  pay,  his  lord  commanded  him  to  be  sold,  and  his  wife,  and 
children,  and  all  that  he  had,  and  payment  to  be  made.  The  servant  there- 
fore fell  down,  and  worshipped  him,  saying,  Lord,  have  patience  with  me, 
and  I  will  pay  thee  all.  Then  the  lord  of  that  servant  was  moved  with  com- 
passion, and  loosed  him,  and  forgave  him  the  debt.  But  the  same  servant 
went  out,  and  found  one  of  his  fellow-servants,  which  owed  him  an  hundred 
pence :  and  he  laid  hands  on  him,  and  took  him  by  the  throat,  saying,  Pay 
mo  that  thou  owest  And  his  fellow-servant  fell  down  at  his  feet,  and  be- 
sought him,  saying,  Have  patience  with  me,  and  I  will  pay  thee  all.  And  ho 
would  not :  but  went  and  cast  him  into  prison,  till  he  should  pay  the  debt. 
So  when  his  fellow-servants  saw  what  was  done,  they  were  very  sorry,  and 
came  and  told  unto  their  lord  all  that  was  done.  Then  his  lord,  after  that 
he  had  called  him,  said  unto  him,  0  thou  wicked  servant,  I  forgave  thee  all 
that  debt,  because  thou  desiredst  mo ;  shouldest  not  thou  also  have  had  com- 
passion on  thy  fellow-servant,  even  as  I  had  pity  on  thee  ?  And  his  lord 
•was  wroth,  and  delivered  him  to  the  tormentors,  till  he  should  pay  all  that 
was  due  unto  him.  So  likewise  shall  my  heavenly  Father  do  also  unto  you, 
if  ye  from  your  hearts  forgive  not  every  one  his  brother  their  trespasses. — 
MATT,  xviii.  23-35. 

A  CONSIDERABLE  portion  of  the  chapter  from  which  the 
present  parable  is  taken,  relates  to  the  law  and  the  con- 
dition of  mutual  forgiveness.  It  is  explained  how  all 
Christians  are  to  proceed,  who  fancy  they  have,  or  really 
have,  just  cause  of  complaint  of  the  treatment  which  they 
have  experienced  from  a  brother.  We  are  told  in  the 
15th  verse,  "  If  thy  brother  shall  trespass  against  thee, 
(that  is,  shall  commit  any  offence  against  thee,)  go  and  tell 
him  his  fault  between  him  and  thee  alone."  Do  not  go 


FORGIVEN   AND   FORGIVING.  273 

and  state  what  he  has  done  behind  his  back.  When  one 
tells  of  the  wrong-doing  of  another  in  the  absence  of  the 
party  accused,  he  should  not  be  listened  to.  Either  he 
speaks  what  is  untrue,  which  would  be  very  bad,  or  he  is 
a  tale-bearer,  which  is  scarcely  less  so,  or  he  has  forgotten 
the  prescription  of  his  Lord,  to  go  first  to  the  offender, 
and  "tell  him  his  fault  between  him  and  thee  alone." 
"  Then  if  he  shall  hear  thee,  thou  hast  gained  thy  brother." 
But  suppose  he  should  be  one  of  those,  who  are  not  rare 
occurrences  in  the  world,  who  have  so  much  self-esteem, 
so  much  confidence  in  their  Own  infallibility,  where  it  may 
after  all  be  the  least  possible ;  and  that  he  will  not  listen 
to  any  such  mutual  explanation  as  that  which  is  here  pre- 
scribed. «  Then  take  with  thee  one  or  two  more,  (one  or 
two  Christian  friends,)  that  in  the  mouth  of  two  or  three 
witnesses,  every  word  may  be  established."  If  he  indi- 
cate the  bad  features  that  will  not  be  reconciled,  that  will 
not  suffer  him  to  be  reconciled  by  a  private  interview, 
then,  that  he  may  be  incapable  of  misrepresenting  the 
results  of  what  you  say,  and  of  putting  a  colouring  upon 
them  which  they  ought  not  to  have,  on  this  and  on  other 
accounts,  take  with  thee  one  or  two  Christian,  trustworthy 
men;  let  them  be  witnesses  of  your  candour,  of  your 
kindness,  of  your  willingness  to  concede  every  prejudice 
in  order  to  conciliate  a  brother.  But  he  may  be  one  of 
those,  who  will  neither  be  persuaded  by  a  private  nor  by 
a  social  interview.  Then  you  must  take  an  ulterior  step : 
"  If  he  shall  neglect  to  hear  them,  tell  it  unto  the  church." 
This  church  is  plainly  not  the  church  universal.  It  cannot 
mean  the  church  in  the  Roman  Catholic  sense  of  that 
word,  because  it  would  be  utterly  impossible  to  tell  it  to 
them ;  or,  if  it  meant  the  church  representative,  it  cannot 
be  the  head  of  it,  as  he  is  called,  because  no  two  private 
Christians  quarrelling  would  be  regarded  by  the  pope,  or 


274  FORESHADOWS. 

/ 

listened  to ;  he  would  not  adjust  so  paltry  and  individual 

a  dispute.  But  what  is  meant  by  telling  it  to  the  church  ? 
It  must  be,  to  the  church  congregational.  There  is  the 
church  catholic ;  there  may  be  the  church  national,  and 
there  is  the  church  congregational.  It  would  seem  that 
the  church  congregational  is  meant  here,  either  in  its 
collective,  or  representative,  or  other  shape  in  which  it 
may  be  reasonably  and  properly  accessible.  I  need  not 
say,  that  there  cannot  be  a  more  gross  perversion  of  the 
passage,  than  the  use  of  it  as  a  text  for  authorizing  one  to 
appeal,  not  to  Scripture,  but  to  what  is  called  "  the 
church,"  for  the  settlement  of  doctrinal  interpretation 
and  disputes.  There  is  nothing  in  it  at  all  about  doc- 
trines ;  it  does  not  contain  one  syllable  about  orthodoxy 
or  heresy.  We  are  not  warranted  to  ask  the  opinion  of 
the  church,  as  to  what  is  truth  or  what  is  error,  as  far  as 
this  passage  is  concerned ;  it  relates  to  private,  personal 
quarrels,  and  not  to  disputes  about  interpretations  of 
Scripture.  "  Then,  if  he  will  not  hear  the  church,  let 
him  be  to  thee  as  an  heathen  man  and  a  publican."  He 
must  be  separated  from  the  church ;  he  is  an  unmanageable 
member  of  it,  until  he  can  act  in  consistency  and  harmony 
with  the  corporate  body,  of  which  he  professes  to  be  a 
member. 

After  the  Lord  has  explained  this,  and  the  people  have 
listened  to  his  discourse,  Peter  comes  to  him  and  puts  a 
question :  » How  often  shall  my  brother  sin  against  me 
and  I  forgive  him?"  Shall  it  extend  to  seven  times  ?  Peter 
plainly  understood  that  the  gospel  was  the  great  gospel  of 
forgiveness.  He  understood  that  its  leading  characteristic 
was  forgiveness  from  God,  in  order  that  we  also  may  pro- 
ceed to  forgive  one  another.  Probably,  however,  there 
still  lingered  in  his  mind  a  Jewish  prejudice.  The  Jews 
believed  that  they  were  to  forgive  once,  twice,  and  thrice, 


FORGIVEN   AND   FORGIVING.  275 

but  that  the  fourth  offence  committed  by  one  party  against 
the  same  party,  was  not  to  be  forgiven.  Now  Peter, 
feeling  that  the  gospel  was  a  dispensation  of  larger  grace 
than  the  law,  doubles  the  number,  and  says,  By  our  Jewish 
law  we  are  to  forgive  three  times  only,  but  I  suppose,  as 
the  gospel  is  a  dispensation  of  greater  grace,  I  may  double 
the  number,  and  say,  that  one  may  forgive  his  brother  six 
or  seven  times.  Our  blessed  Lord  instantly  replies  to 
him,  in  a  way  which  extinguishes  all  arithmetic,  all  me- 
chanics, all  morality  by  measure  or  by  weight,  and  esta- 
blishes the  great  principle  of  action,  namely,  love.  Giving 
a  definite  number  for  an  indefinite,  he  says,  You  must  for- 
give not  only  three  times,  like  the  Jew,  who  sought  "  an 
eye  for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth;"  not  merely, 
Peter,  seven  times,  as  you,  with  your  lingering  prejudices, 
slowly  yielding  to  Christian  light,  would  suggest ;  but  you 
must  forgive  him,  if  need  be,  seventy  times  seven,  that  is 
to  say,  there  must  be  no  limit  to  your  forgiveness.  God 
forgives  you  all  at  twenty,  thirty,  or  seventy  years  of 
age,  and  you  must  forgive  all  offences  committed  against 
you  by  your  brother.  Perhaps  also  there  may  be  some 
reference  here  to  the  fact,  that  seven  is  in  Scripture  the 
perfect  number ;  the  seven  days  making  one  week,  the 
seven  colours  in  the  rainbow  making  one  pure  light,  the 
seven  sounds  making  the  complete  musical  scale.  Seven 
times,  in  Scripture,  is  constantly  used  to  denote  perfection. 
It  may  also  refer  to  the  jubilee-day,  occurring  in  the  seven 
times  seven  years,  when  all  debts  were  remitted — when 
every  creditor  ceased  to  have  a  claim,  and  every  debtor  to 
owe  any  thing  to  his  creditor. 

Our  Lord,  in  order  to  impress  the  abstract  truth  which 
has  been  stated,  gives  a  parable  (which  is  teaching  from 
history  or  from  nature  what  he  is  inculcating  on  Peter  in 
practice)  of  a  certain  king,  who  took  an  account  of  his 


276  FORESHADOWS. 

servants ;  and  the  object  of  the  parable  is  to  show  the 
largeness  of  the  love  of  God,  and  the  littleness  of  the 
love  of  man ;  the  riches  that  are  in  the  bosom  of  Deity, 
and  the  poverty  of  spirit  that  is  in  the  bosom  of  man. 
This  king,  or  lord,  is  said  to  have  instituted  a  taking  an 
account  of  his  servants — "which  would  take  an  account 
of  his  servants."  This  does  not  refer  to  the  judgment- 
day.  It  is  the  same  as  the  command  addressed  to  the 
steward,  "  Give  an  account  of  thy  stewardship,"  and  means 
simply  to  balance  or  to  reckon  up  an  account,  which  would 
be  done  at  stated  intervals,  preliminary  to  the  winding  up 
of  the  whole  concerns  of  a  lifetime.  And  this  process  of 
balancing  accounts  is  a  process  with  which  we  must  be  in 
our  own  hearts  familiar.  Conscience  is  often  the  seat  of 
it — the  counting-house  the  place  in  which  it  is  done  ;  and 
the  sick-bed,  loss,  trial,  affliction  are  the  occasions  that 
suggest  it  and  bring  it  about.  The  way  that  God  creates 
our  taking  account,  is  by  some  faithful  exhibition  of  the 
claims,  the  height,  the  depth,  the  length,  and  breadth  of 
a  holy  and  exacting  law ;  or  by  clearing  off  all  the  weeds, 
and  mists,  and  prejudices  that  conceal  our  sins  from  our 
own  inspection,  and  turning  the  eye  inward,  in  order  to 
see  them.  Or  he  makes  this  taking  of  account  between 
us  and  him  begin  by  touching  conscience  with  his  finger, 
casting  a  living  spark  into  the  bosom,  and  so  inspiring  it 
to  reason  and  take  account  of  righteousness,  and  temper- 
ance, and  judgment.  And  he  makes  this  process  go  on 
until  we  have  the*  conviction  rooted  in  our  inmost  souls, 
that  by  the  deeds  of  the  law  no  flesh  can  be  justified. 

The  difficulty  that  first  occurs  in  the  parable,  relates  to 
the  person  who  is  called  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  and  the 
large  amount  which  this  servant  owed.  The  amount  is  to 
be  determined  first  by  a  consideration  whether  the  talents 
were  of  gold  or  silver.  If  the  servant  owed  ten  thousand 


FORGIVEN  AND   FORGIVING.  277 

talents  of  gold,  the  sum  would  amount  to  about  three  mil- 
lions sterling ;  but  if  it  be  taken  as  talents  of  silver,  which 
is  the  more  probable  calculation,  it  would  not  amount  to 
more  than  <£200,000.  With  respect  to  the  servant,  it  is 
not  necessarily  implied  that  he  was  a  menial  servant.  The 
prime  minister  of  England  is  called  the  queen's  servant ; 
the  highest  officer  in  the  state  is  a  servant  of  the  queen. 
So  this  servant  of  the  king  may  have  been  a  high  official, 
an  exarch,  he  may  have  been  a  satrap,  as  they  were  called 
in  ancient  times,  or  a  farmer  of  revenues,  or  chancellor  of 
the  exchequer,  or  lord  high  treasurer,  or  some  great  officer 
in  the  state,  who  had  much  in  his  power,  who  might  be 
guilty  of  much  dishonesty,  or  exhibit  much  faithfulness. 
He  was  not,  therefore,  necessarily  a  menial  servant.  By 
recollecting  this  fact,  we  see  how  it  happens  that  he  might 
have  owed  such  and  so  large  a  sum. 

It  is  said,  that  the  king  began  to  take  an  account.  Every 
clause  and  syllable  in  this  parable  is  instinct  with  meaning. 
We  may  miss  the  true  meaning,  but  we  cannot  fail  to  notice 
the  beauty,  and  harmony,  and  expressive  bearing  of  every 
clause  upon  the  grand  conclusion  of  the  parable.  It  is 
said,  the  king  had  begun  to  reckon.  And,  first,  he  laid 
hold  of  one  of  his  servants — an  eminent  one,  it  may  be, 
but  he  was,  to  use  the  common  expression,  "accidentally" 
the  first.  He  did  not  select  the  greatest  debtor,  but  the 
very  first  that  came  to  his  hand,  and  him  he  found  to  be  a 
great  defaulter — one  that  owed  a  very  large  sum ;  teaching 
us  that  there  may  have  been  others  that  owed  him  much 
more,  that  this  one  may  have  been  the  lightest  and  not  the 
heaviest  debtor;  and  thus  far  suggesting  to  us,  If  thou,  0 
Lord,  shouldest — not  select  the  greatest  sinner  and  mark 
his  iniquity — but,  if  thou  shouldest  mark  iniquity — yours, 
mine,  or  anybody's — who,  who  could  stand? 

This  servant,  we  read  in  the  next  clause,  was  "  brought 

II.  SER.  24 


278  -  FORESHADOWS. 

unto  him,"  -when  he  had  begun  to  reckon.  "One  was 
brought  unto  him,  which  owed  him  ten  thousand  talents." 
This  also  is  expressive.  The  man  was  brought  unto  him ; 
he  never  would  have  come  himself.  The  last  thing  that  a 
debtor  that  cannot  pay  will  do,  is  to  face  his  creditor. 
What  a  remarkable  fact  is  this !  There  is  something  in  sin 
that  makes  it  skulk  and  shrink  into  a  nook,  and  court  dark- 
ness. A  man  that  cannot  bear  to  look  you  in  the  face  has 
something  within  that  does  not  sit  comfortably  there.  "  He 
that  doeth  truth  cometh  to  the  light,  that  his  deeds  may 
be  made  manifest  that  they  are  wrought  in  God."  Thus 
this  conscious  debtor  would  not  have  come  to  his  creditor 
spontaneously,  of  his  own  free-will,  because  sin  dislikes 
that  which  reminds  it  of  its  turpitude.  And  if  this  was 
true  of  this  debtor  in  reference  to  his  creditor,  it  is  no  less 
so  of  us  debtors  in  reference  to  our  great  creditor,  God. 
What  is  the  character  of  sin?  It  keeps  the  sinner  at  a 
distance  from  God.  This  is  the  very  first  and  the  most 
permanent  effect  that  is  produced  by  sin ;  so  that  instead 
of  going  with  our  sin  to  God's  mercy  to  have  it  all  expunged, 
we  keep  at  a  distance  from  God.  And  what  is  the  effect 
of  our  keeping  at  a  distance  from  him?  That  we  are  trea- 
suring up  additional  debt  and  wrath  against  the^day  of 
wrath.  Therefore,  it  is  never  until  we  see  God,  not  in  the 
light  of  a  creditor,  (that  is  the  natural  man's  light,)  but  in 
the  light  of  a  Father,  that  we  go  to  him.  It  is  not  until 
we  see  God  in  his  paternal  character,  that  we  can  go  to 
him,  and  say,  Forgive  us.  Who  is  it  that  can  pray,  "For- 
give us  our  debts  as  we  forgive  our  debtors?"  The  people 
that  can  say,  "  Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven."  No  man 
ever  prayed  aright,  till  he  prayed  as  a  child  before  a  fa- 
ther ;  and  no  man  ever  confessed  his  sins  aright,  until  he 
confessed  those  sins,  not  as  a  criminal  thrust  into  the  pre- 


FORGIVEN   AND   FORGIVING.  279 

scnce  of  a  judge,  but  as  a  child  seeking  shelter  in  the 
bosom  of  a  father. 

We  read  in  the  25th  verse,  "  Forasmuch  as  he  had  not 
to  pay,  his  lord  commanded  him  to  be  sold,  and  his  wife, 
and  children,  and  payment  to  be  made."  By  the  Roman 
law,  a  man's  wife  and  children  were  his  goods  and  chattels ; 
they  were  forfeited  by  his  crime,  and  might  be  made  slaves ; 
and  even  by  the  Jewish  law  the  punishment  reached  also 
those  that  were  beneath  him.  So  far  this  teaches  us  a  very 
important  lesson :  that  sin  in  the  head  of  a  house,  or  of  a 
province,  or  of  a  nation,  brings  down  judgment  upon  infe- 
rior rulers,  upon  children,  upon  wife,  upon  all  that  is  his. 
In  other  words,  it  shows  that  visiting  the  sins  of  the  fathers 
upon  the  children,  is  not  a  mere  dry,  Calvinistic  dogma,  as 
it  has  been  called,  but  that  it  is  providentially  and  actually 
true :  it  is  true  because  God  has  said  it,  and  obvious  be- 
cause facts  prove  it.  It  is  shown  to  be  actual,  because  hu- 
man experience  confirms  it.  Take  for  instance  the  case 
of  the  Scottish  nobles  of  1745.  They  sided  with  him  they 
believed  to  be  the  lawful  prince,  and  what  was  the  result  ? 
They  were  attainted;  they  lost  their  coronets;  and  their 
families  to  this  day  are  commoners,  and  not  nobles.  This 
is  visiting  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon  the  children  by  those 
laws  that  we  ourselves  made,  and  still  believe  to  be  just, 
and  beautiful,  and  true.  Let  a  father  of  a  family  destroy 
his  health  by  drunkenness  and  depraved  habits,  and  his 
children  inherit  his  sins  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation ; 
or  let  him  waste  his  property  by  riotous  living,  and  his 
children  are  made  beggars.  We  thus  see  in  our  experience, 
and  by  the  laws  of  nations,  and  by  the  action  of  Provi- 
dence, that  sins  committed  by  the  fathers  are  visited  upon 
the  children.  No  man  can  deny  it.  And  what  is  true  in 
these  limited  spheres,  is  true  on  a  greater  scale.  Let  a 
nation  go  into  an  unjust  war,  let  that  nation  be  severely 


280  FORESHADOWS. 

punished,  (as  it  -will  assuredly  be,)  and  it  accumulates  a 
tremendous  debt  which  descends  upon  succeeding  genera- 
tions. You  have  here  the  sins  of  the  fathers  nationally 
visited  on  the  children.  No  one  can  read  the  Old  Testa- 
ment Scripture  without  seeing,  that  when  the  ruler  sinned, 
the  ruled,  or  the  subjects,  were  smitten.  If  that  was  unjust 
then,  it  is  unjust  now.  But  it  was  not  so  then,  and  is  not 
so  now.  God  is  teaching  a  great  lesson  by  it.  God  thus 
teaches  us,  that  in  proportion  to  the  height  of  the  pinnacle 
we  stand  on,  ought  to  be  the  care  with  which  we  stand;  in 
proportion  to  the  place  of  power  we  occupy,  ought  to  be 
the  watchfulness,  and  prayer,  with  which  we  occupy  it. 
Hence  he  that  occupies  the  highest  place,  and  is  at  the  head 
of  the  greatest  number,  is  he  that  must  most  pray  for  him- 
self, and  needs  most  to  be  prayed  for  by  others.  "Let 
him  that  standeth  (wheresoever  he  standeth)  take  heed  lest 
he  fall!" 

We  read  that  "  his  lord  commanded  him  to  be  sold,  and 
his  wife,  and  children,  and  all  that  he  had,  and  payment 
to  be  made."  It  is  not  said  that  these,  when  sold,  pro- 
duced money  adequate  to  meet  the  just  demand ;  but  it 
means,  that  this  would  be  an  instalment  of  it,  and  that  it 
was  all  that  could  be  got.  This  teaches  us  a  great  lesson. 
I  tried  to  show  from  the  parable  of  the  rich  man  and 
Lazarus,  that  the  punishment  of  sin  is  a  perpetual  punish- 
ment. Sin  is  an  infinite  evil ;  it  never  works  its  cure,  but 
always  works  its  own  perpetuity.  The  lost  sin  while  they 
are  punished,  and  increase  their  punishment  as  they  in- 
crease their  sins ;  and  it  could  be  proved  by  arithmetic, 
that  hell,  whatever  be-  its  state,  or  its  nature,  or  its  tor- 
ment, or  its  woes,  is  endless  and  inexhaustible  suffering. 
I  know  that  there  are  difficulties  attending  all  this.  The 
only  one  that  ever  struck  me  as  at  all  a  serious  difficulty 
was  just  this :  that  when  all  has  been  restored,  this  world 


FORGIVEN   AND   FORGIVING.  281 

reclaimed,  and  its  people  saved,  it  has  seemed  strange  that 
there  should  be  any  spot  in  the  vast  universe  of  God,  on 
which  there  should  be  sinning  and  suffering  still.  One 
sees  the  difficulty  here,  but  we  cannot  answer  it.  God  is 
silent  on  it ;  we  must,  therefore,  leave  it.  We  must  take 
what  is  written,  which  is  plain  and  unequivocal,  that  hell  is 
for  ever,  and  that  they  who  are  there  can  never,  by  the  na- 
ture of  the  case,  be  emancipated.  Whatever  God  has  done, 
whatever  God  has  revealed,  we  know  is  as  merciful  as  it  is. 
just ;  and  at  all  events  our  way  is,  not  to  be  driven  to  God 
by  the  fear  of  punishment,  but  to  be  drawn  to  him  by  the 
love  of  the  cross.  Men  may  have  been  awed,  they  may 
have  been  scared,  they  may  have  been  thoroughly  subdued, 
and  driven  into  the  gulf  of  despair,  by  the  preaching  and 
the  reiteration  of  the  perdition  that  awaits  the  ungodly ;  but 
God's  great  process  for  bringing  the  world  "from  dark- 
ness to  light,  from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God,"  is  by 
the  manifestation  of  disinterested  love,  so  that  we,  feeling 
his  love,  may  love  him ;  and  "  love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the 
law."  That  man  that  has  in  his  bosom  real,  practical, 
operative  love  to  God,  has  that  which  would  prevent  him 
from  suffering,  if  he  were  plunged  into  the  depths  of  hell. 
There  was  one  resource  when  the  poor  debtor's  wife  and 
children  and  all  were  sold.  They  did  not  exact  the  debt, 
for  the  poor  debtor,  we  read,  "  fell  down  and  worshipped 
him."  The  word  worship  here  does  not  mean  divine 
adoration;  it  is  often  used  to  signify  civil  homage;  nay, 
in  one  passage  in  the  Old  Testament  it  is  used  to  denote 
both:  "  They  worshipped  both  the  Lord  and  the  king;" 
meaning  that  they  worshipped  the  Lord  as  God,  and  gave 
homage  to  the  king,  that  civil  homage  which  belonged  to 
him.  This  man  therefore  fell  down,  giving  all  the  homage 
to  the  ruler  that  that  ruler  properly  required,  and  said, 
"Have  patience  with  me,  and  I  AYI!!  pay  thee  all."  This 

24* 


282  FORESHADOWS. 

was  promising  an  impossibility ;  he  kneAY  that  if  he  were 
spared  he  would  never  be  able  to  pay  all,  and  the  subse- 
quent record  of  the  parable  shows  that  it  was  so.  But 
this  man  is  not  the  only  one  that  says  so.  It  is  not  in 
human  liabilities  that  we  ask  a  little  time  and  promise  to 
pay  all.  Are  not  these  the  very  words  that  come  from 
the  lips  of  every  unhumbled  sinner  in  the  sight  of  God  at 
the  present  day  ?  is  it  not  his  persuasion  that  he  needs  not 
so  much  forgiveness  as  time  ?  that  he  needs  not  so  much 
for  the  debt  to  be  cancelled,  as  a  little  more  patience  in 
order  that  he  may  make  it  up  ?  It  is  this  self-righteous 
spirit  which  is  the  key  to  the  harsh  treatment  that  this 
man  dealt  to  his  fellow-servant  in  the  very  same  circum- 
stances in  which  he  was.  The  constant  cry  of  sinners  is, 
'"Have  patience  with  us;  wait  a  little,  and  we  shall  pay 
you  all."  The  self-righteous  man  hopes  to  do  it  by  his 
own  exertions ;  the  monk  and  the  recluse  hope  to  pay  all, 
by  macerations,  fastings,  and  bodily  torture ;  and  the 
priest  hopes  to  pay  all  by  an  appeal  to  that  great  ecclesi- 
astical fund,  called  the  fund  of  supererogation,  which  has 
been  sold  and  purchased  at  so  much  per  cent.,  just  like 
public  stocks  upon  the  Exchange  or  in  the  market.  Each 
has  something  that  he  falls  back  upon,  as  the  grand 
treasury  out  of  which  he  hopes  to  get  enough  to  pay  all 
the  demands  of  his  Lord.  But  that  man  that  knows  what 
God's  law  is,  and  that  feels  what  his  own  heart  is,  will  be 
thoroughly  persuaded  that  such  payment  is  impossible,  and 
that  to  promise  it  is  to  try  to  deceive  the  undeceivable, 
and  to  deceive  himself.  But  suppose  I  owe  a  hundred 
pounds.  No  exactitude  in  paying  my  debts  for  the  future 
would  be  any  compensation  for  my  not  paying  this  hundred 
pounds.  .We  owe  to  God  the  past,  the  present,  and  the 
future;  we  owe  perfect  holiness  in  the  past,  perfect 
holiness  in  the  present,  and  perfect  holiness  in  the  future. 


FORGIVEN   AND   FORGIVING.  283 

If  I  could  render  to  God  perfect  obedience  in  thought, 
and  word,  and  deed,  for  all  the  future,  I  should  only  be 
doing  just  what  I  am  bound  to  do,  because  the  law  is  still, 
"  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  strength."     In   the 
journey  to  the  judgment-seat,  there  is  no  making  up  lost 
time.     In  the  voyage  to  God's  presence,  there  is  no  re- 
covering lee-way  that  is  lost.     In  appearing  at  the  judg- 
ment-seat, there  is  no  such  thing  as  offering  any  compensa- 
tion, or  atonement  whatever,  on  our  part,  for  any  thing  in 
which  we  are  deficient.     Well  therefore  does  the  prophet 
ask,  "Wherewithal  shall  I  come  before  the  Lord,  and  bow 
myself  before  the  high  God  ?"     Shall  I  come  with  «  burnt 
offerings  and  calves  of  a  year  old  ?"     That  will  not  do. 
Will  the  Lord  be  pleased  with  "  a  thousand  rams  ?"    That 
will  not  do.     Or  with  "ten  thousand  rivers  of  oil,"  if  I 
could  give  it  ?    That  will  not  do.     »  Shall  I  give  my  first- 
born for  my  transgression,  and  the  fruit  of  my  body  for 
the  sin  of  my  soul  ?"    That  will  not  do.     It  requires  blood 
to  cleanse  from  sin,  but  it  is  the  blood  of  him  who  is  God 
in  our  nature,  and  has  made  a  perfect  propitiation  for  the 
sins  of  all  that  believe.     Therefore,  let  us  not  for  one  mo- 
ment indulge  in  the  idea  that  any  thing  we  can  do  in  the 
future  will,  in  reference  to  God  and  his  law,  compensate 
for  what  we  have  left  undone  in  the  past.     Do  not  say  to 
God,  "Have  patience  with  me  and  I  will  pay  thee,"  but 
go  to  him  and  say,  "  Our  Father,  forgive  me,"  or,  as  the 
word  should  be  translated,  "send  away."     "Send  away 
our  trespasses,  as  we  send  away  the  trespasses  of  them 
that  trespass  against  us." 

The  lord  of  that  servant  was  better  to  him  than  he 
deserved.  We  are  told  that  he  loosed  him  and  had  mercy 
upon  him.  This  indicates  that  he,  his  wife,  and  his 
children,  were  in  bondage ;  or  why  should  the  term  loosed 


284  FORESHADOWS. 

be  used  ?  Probably  they  were  all  cast  into  prison ;  and 
probably,  nay,  there  is  no  doubt,  that  during  their  im- 
prisonment, the  servant  learned  a  lesson  that  he  had  not 
learned  previously — that  nothing  he  could  do  in  his  self- 
righteousness  would  ever  give  payment  of  the  heavy 
liabilities  that  he  owed  to  his  Lord.  Do  we  not  often 
discover  by  night  what  we  have  missed  by  day  ?  Do  we 
not  often  learn  lessons  in  trouble  that  we  should  never 
have  learned  in  prosperity  ?  Precious  lessons  have  before 
now  been  read  on  sick-beds;  glorious  apocalypses  have 
before  now  illumined  prison  walls,  from  that  of  John  in 
Patmos  to  that  of  John  Bunyan  in  Bedford.  If  martyrs 
have  suffered  the  cruelty  of  man,  in  the  midst  of  their 
torments*  they  have  had  compensatory  joy  from  God  their 
™  Father,  who  has  made  them  take  joyfully  the  spoiling  of 
their  goods.  It  is  good  for  us  that  we  have  been  afflicted. 
We  learn  in  trouble  what  we  do  not  learn  in  prosperous 
circumstances. 

We  read  that  the  lord  of  that  servant  forgave  him  all. 
Thus  the  reckoning  that  alarmed  the  servant  led  to  that 
which  indeed  comforted  him.  What  seemed  to  him  un- 
mitigated judgment,  was  plainly  only  mercy  in  reversion. 
One  has  well  sung — 

"  Ye  saints  of  God,  fresh  courage  take, 

The  clouds  ye  so  much  dread 

Are  big  with  mercy,  and  will  break 

With  blessings  on  your  head." 

God  brings  us  to  Sinai  that  we  may  tremble  there,  as 
Moses  quaked,  in  order  to  draw,  if  not  drive,  us  to  Calvary, 
that  we  may  rejoice  and  be  glad  there  as  a  Christian  only 
can.  As  we  stand  shivering  at  the  mount,  the  language 
we  utter  is,  "Lord,  who  shall  stand  if  thou  shouldest  mark 
iniquity?"  But  when  we  are  translated  from  that  unto 
Mount  Zion,  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Je- 


FORGIVEN   AND   FORGIVING.  285 

rusalem,  unto  Calvary,  and  Christ,  and  him  crucified,  then 
we  can  add  what  there  only  we  learn :  "  But  there  is  for- 
giveness with  thee  that  thou  mayest  be  feared."  God 
rarely  suffers  us  to  taste  of  the  sweetness  of  the  gospel, 
without  giving  us  contemporaneously,  or  previously,  to  feel 
something  of  the  bitterness  of  the  law.  It  is  by  seeing 
how  much  we  owe,  that  we  learn  to  feel  how  much  we  have 
been  forgiven.  It  is  by  having  first  "the  sentence  of 
death,"  to  use  the  language  of  the  apostle,  that  we  taste 
the  sweetness  of  that  life — the  life  of  God — that  im- 
mediately succeeds. 

Having  thus  learned  the  character  of  this  superior 
servant,  and  the  treatment  he  received  from  his  master, 
we  must  now  follow  him  in  his  after-life,  and  see  what  we 
should  have  done,  had  we  been  in  the  very  same  circum- 
stances. That  servant,  we  are  told,  went  out — that  same 
servant,  the  very  last  man  we  should  have  expected  to 
have  been  guilty  of  it — and  found  one  of  his  fellow-ser- 
vants, who  owed  him  a  hundred  pence,  (about  a  hundred 
times  seven  pence  half-penny.)  He  laid  hands  on  him, 
and  took  him  by  the  throat,  saying,  Pay  me  that  thou 
owest.  Mark  the  first  expression,  he  went  out.  This  is 
not  without  meaning.  "When  is  it  that  we  forget  our  obli- 
gation to  God,  and  our  responsibilities  to  him  ?  When, 
like  Cain,  we  go  out  from  God's  presence.  Where  is  the 
place  of  safety  and  of  holiness,  the  place  of  strength  and 
joy  ?  The  answer  is,  in  the  presence  of  God.  Let  go 
your  sense  of  a  present  God,  and  you  let  go  one  of  the 
main  props  of  your  Christian  existence.  And  what  does 
the  apostle  say  to  the  Hebrews  ?  "  Take  heed  lest  there 
be  in  any  of  you  an  evil  heart  of  unbelief,  in  departing 
'from  the  living  God:" — that  is,  in  going  out  from  God, 
ceasing  to  pray  to  him,  to  think  of  him ;  or  thinking  of 
him  only  in  the  sanctuary,  and  never  in  the  shop,  in  the 


286  FORESHADOWS. 

place  of  business,  in  the  world;  going  out  from  God,  and 
saying  in  our  own  practical  feelings,  "There  is  no  God." 
There  is,  I  must  say,  a  great  deal  of  misconception  about 
Christianity.  Many  persons  have  an  idea  (and  the  preva- 
lent superstitions  of  Rome  and  those  who  follow  that 
church  foster  it)  that  Christianity  is  a  thing  for  canonical 
times  and  consecrated  places ;  that  it  is  a  very  good  thing 
for  the  Sabbath,  and  very  proper  for  the  house  of  God; 
that  consecrated  hands  only  should  touch  consecrated 
things.  What  a  misconception  is  this !  Christianity  is 
for  every-day  life,  for  the  Exchange,  the  parliament,  the 
palace,  the  shop,  the  closet,  and  the  drawing-room.  Chris- 
tianity is  meant  to  be  a  perpetual  spring.  It  is  not  a  thing 
for  Sunday,  that  ceases  upon  Monday;  it  is  a  perpetual 
influence.  A  sense  of  God's  presence  is  holy  as  it  is  a 
duty  everywhere.  If  you  get  the  idea  that  you  ought  only 
to  name  God  and  to  pray  in  sacred  places,  you  are  upon 
Jewish  or  Popish,  not  upon  Christian,  grounds.  You  come 
to  the  sanctuary  to  be  refreshed  after  the  toils  of  the  week, 
and  to  be  strengthened  for  the  week  to  come ;  and  thence 
to  take  God  with  you,  and,  under  his  eye,  and  walking 
with  him  as  Noah,  and  Enoch,  and  Abraham  walked,  to 
be  happy,  to  be  kept  holy,  to  be  strengthened  for  every 
sacrifice,  and  sustained  in  every  trial. 

The  servant's  treatment  of  his  fellow-servant  was,  we 
find,  extremely  harsh  and  cruel,  as  well  as  unbecoming  the 
circumstances  in  which  he  himself  was  placed.  It  indi- 
cated a  total  renunciation  of  the  position  of  favour  he 
occupied.  He  had  a  right  to  exact  the  hundred  pence. 
He  might  have  gone  into  any  court  of  justice  and  made 
that  servant  pay.  There  was  no  doubt  of  that.  The  su- 
perior servant  did  not  demand  from  the  inferior  servant 
that  which  was  not  his  due.  He  had  a  perfect  right  to 
exact  it.  Yet  the  exaction  of  right  may  not  always  be 


FORGIVEN  AND   FORGIVING.  287 

right  in  the  sight  of  God.  Some  one  has  made  the  re- 
mark, "Summa  justitia"  may  be  "summa  injuria."  The 
highest  justice  may  be,  in  the  sight  of  God,  the  highest 
injury.  At  all  events,  the  man  wished  to  have  one  treat- 
ment for  himself,  and  to  administer  another  treatment  for 
those  who  were  subject  to  him.  He  wanted  that  God 
should  deal  with  him  by  grace,  but  that  he  should  have  the 
convenient  license  of  dealing  with  all  mankind  by  justice. 
He  desired  that  God  should  forgive  all  his  demands  on 
him,  but  that  he  should  have  the  most  convenient  per- 
mission to  exact  all  his  rights  upon  his  fellow-creatures. 
He  wanted  to  be  meted  himself  by  one  measure,  but  would 
like  to  mete  out  a  very  different  measure  to  others.  He 
would  have  every  thing  for  nothing  himself;  but  he  wanted 
to  let  nobody  have  any  thing  for  nothing  from  him.  If 
we  are  the  recipients  of  grace,  we  must  give  grace.  If  we 
have  obtained  forgiveness,  Ave  must  also  forgive.  If  we 
stand  by  grace,  by  grace  we  must  also  be  prepared  to  act. 
But  let  me  ask,  is  not  the  very  phrase,  the  very  words 
which  this  man  uttered,  "Pay  me  that  thou  owest,"  the 
ceaseless  exaction  of  us  all?  Is  not  this  our  feeling?  I 
don't  say  we  all  venture  to  give  it  utterance.  Every  one 
is  inclined  to  say  for  himself,  "  I  owe  very  little.  I  have 
done  what  I  could,  and  God  has  very  little  to  expect  from 
me ;  I  have  done  as  well  as  my  neighbour.  But  that  man 
owes  me  very  much,  and  that  other  man  owes  me  still 
more.  I  believe  God  cannot  say  to  me,  '  Pay  me  that  thou 
owest,'  because  I  owe  nothing.  But  to  every  man  around 
me  I  may  say  justly,  'Pay  me  that  thou  owest,' — to  his 
wife,  his  children,  his  servants,  his  dependants,  and  friends, 
'  Pay  me  that  thou  owest.'  ' 

Yet,  perhaps,  the  solution  of  it  is  as  follows.  "When  we 
look  to  God  as  simply  an  exacter  of  duties,  we  go  forth  in 
the  same  spirit,  and  are  ourselves  the  greatest  exacters  of 


288  FORESHADOWS. 

duties  from  others ;  but  when,  on  the  other  hand,  we  learn 
to  look  upon  God,  not  in  the  light  of  an  exacter  of  aught, 
but  as  a  giver  of  all,  we  become  holier  and  freer  ourselves. 
By  not  thinking  of  God  commanding  at  all,  but  by  think- 
ing constantly  of  God  as  giving,  \ve  shall  be  holiest  and 
happiest  too.  When  we  think  of  God  constantly  as  an 
exacter  of  duties,  we  grudgingly  perform  them,  and  in  a 
mercenary  spirit.  As  we  believe  our  God  is,  so  we  our- 
selves act,  and  we  are  constantly  exacting  from  our  fellow- 
men,  and  complaining  when  they  do  not  give  us  what  we 
exact.  Now  God's  true  character  is,  that  he  gives  and 
forgives.  Our  true  character,  if  we  are  his,  will  be,  that 
we  give  and  forgive  also. 

But  let  me  explain  what  forgiveness  is.  Many  persons 
understand  by  forgiving,  giving  for — that  is,  giving  for  a 
consideration ;  but  that  is  not  the  meaning.  The  original 
word  is  not  "for,"  but  "forth" — forth  giving,  freely  re- 
mitting without  any  consideration,  dismissing,  putting  away 
altogether.  How  much  did  the  apostles  build  upon  this, 
that  we  ourselves,  having  received  so  much,  freely  ought 
to  show  our  sense  of  that,  by  dealing  tenderly  and  gratui- 
tously with  others.  Thus,  for  instance,  the  apostle  says, 
in  his  Epistle  to  Titus,  that  we  are  "  to  speak  evil  of  no 
man,  to  be  no  brawlers,  but  gentle,  showing  all  meekness  • 
unto  all  men."  But  what  does  he  add  as  the  groundwork 
of  this  ?  "  For  we  ourselves  also  were  sometimes  foolish 
and  disobedient."  What  beautiful  reasoning,  "For  we 
ourselves  also  were  sometimes  foolish  and  disobedient." 
As  though  the  recollection  of  what  we  were  by  nature, 
and  what  God  has  made  us  by  grace,  should  make  us 
tender  and  forbearing  toward  others,  instead  of  exacting 
what  we  think  we  deserve  from  others.  In  that  beautiful 
case  of  Joseph,  when  he  thought  that  Mary  had  done  that 
which  was  wrong,  it  is  said  that,  being  a  just  man,  he  did 


FORGIVEN   AND   FORGIVING.  289 

not  put  her  away.  How  beautiful  is  this,  that  the  highest 
justice  was  the  very  highest  mercy,  love,  forbearance,  and 
forgiveness !  The  highest  humanity  is  the  highest  justice. 
A  perfect  being  only  can  exact  rights ;  an  imperfect  being 
must  give  and  forgive. v  This  teaches  us  that  there  are  two 
great  kingdoms  in  the  womb  of  nature,  struggling  for  su- 
premacy, the  elder  and  the  younger ;  the  one  the  kingdom 
of  exaction,  of  demand,  and  of  right ;  the  other  the  king- 
dom of  grace,  of  forgiveness,  and  of  love. 

The  fruits  of  the  kingdom  of  exaction  are,  each  exact- 
ing what  he  conceives  to  be  his  own  rights,  and  repeating 
as  his  watchword  to  others,  "Pay  me  that  thou  owest;" 
debtors  rising  against  creditors ;  we  asserting  our  rights 
against  our  fellows,  and  they  in  their  turn  asserting  their 
rights  against  us.  The  result  is  what  has  taken  place  on 
the  continent  of  Europe — disorganization,  chaos,  revolu- 
tion. Whenever  the  higher  classes  begin  to  exact  and  de- 
mand imperiously  rights  and  obligations  from  the  lower, 
there  is  a  reaction  and  a  revolution.  This  is  the  kingdom 
of  exaction.  But  the  other  is  the  kingdom  of  forgiveness 
— forgiveness  coming  from  God  into  our  hearts,  and  we 
coining  it  into  forgiveness  for  others ;  and  that  forgiveness 
of  man  to  man  becoming  the  currency  of  the  whole  social 
system.  Wherever  this  exists,  there  is  strength,  stability, 
prosperity.  Never  is  power  so  mighty  as  when  it  sacri- 
fices. Never  are  the  wealthy  so  sure  of  their  wealth  as 
when  they  give  liberally.  Never  does  society  stand  so 
strong  as  when  it  is  characterized  less  by  exacting  rights 
from  man  to  man,  and  more  by  giving  blessings  from  the 
higher  to  the  lower — from  them  that  have  to  them  that 
have  not. 

We  heard,  that  the  fellow-servants  of  this  upper  ser- 
vant, on  seeing  what  he  did,  "were  sorry."  Just  mark 
the  distinction.  When  the  lord  of  that  servant  heard 

II.  SEE.  25 


290  FORESHADOWS. 

what  he  did,  he  was  wroth.  That  is  the  type  of  Christ. 
"When  the  fellow-servants  saw  what  he  did,  what  did  they 
do  ?  Did  they  go  and  smite  him  and  abuse  him,  whisper 
about  him,  put  a  paragraph  in  the  newspapers  in  order  to 
damage  him?  No,  but,  it  is  beautifully  said,  they  "were 
sorry."  God  may  be  wrathful,  man  can  only  be  sorry. 
God  is  the  judge,  who  can  pronounce ;  and  we  are  the 
fellow-servants,  that  can  only  be  grieved  when  a  fellow- 
servant  sins  against  God  or  ourselves.  This  is  the  true 
light  in  which  to  look  at  sin.  What  is  a  man's  greatest 
misfortune  ?  That  he  should  be  left  to  sin  and  error.  It 
is  indeed  a  great  misfortune.  It  ought  not  to  provoke  our 
judgment,  but  to  excite  our  sympathy,  calling  forth  not 
denunciations,  but  tenderness ;  not  wrath,  but  the  sorrow 
that  the  fellow-servants  felt.  But  is  it  not  our  tendency, 
when  we  see  our  fellow-servants  sin  against  others,  and 
especially  (and  there  we  see  the  selfishness  of  our  own 
hearts  breaking  out)  when  they  sin  against  ourselves,  that 
we  cease  to  feel  sorry?  We  often  catch  ourselves  mount- 
ing the  judgment-throne,  when  we  ought  to  be  kneeling  at 
the  throne  of  grace.  These  servants  did  not  rest  satisfied 
with  being  sorry;  they  went  and  did — what?  They  went 
and  told  their  lord.  When  we  see  a  fellow-creature  sin, 
we  are  not,  as  I  have  told  you,  to  go  and  calumniate,  and 
endeavour  to  denounce  and  abuse  him.  If  you  can  right 
it,  do  so ;  if  you  can  repair  the  wrong,  do  so ;  if  you  can 
bring  him  to  a  right  mind,  do  so ;  but  if  you  cannot,  if 
you  have  not  the  means,  the  power,  or  the  persuasion,  then 
go  and  tell  God,  but  not  upon  the  house-top,  making  prayer 
a  covert  for  your  enmity,  but  go  and  tell  God  when  you 
have  shut  the  doors  of  your  closet,  when  no  man  can  hear 
you  ;  and  he  that  judgeth  righteously  will  right  the  wrong 
that  has  been  done.  What  a  beautiful  world  would  this  be, 
if  it  were  only  Christian !  What  fools,  what  madmen  are 


FORGIVEN  AND  FORGIVING.  291 

they  that  would  try  to  banish  from  this  world  that  blessed 
gospel,  that  would  make  its  very  deserts  smile  and  its  wil- 
derness blossom  as  the  rose !  It  is  the  very  holiness  of 
this  gospel  that  rouses  the  opposition  of  the  skeptic.  It 
is  because  it  is  so  powerful,  so  heavenly,  so  like  God,  that 
it  stirs  up  the  enmity  of  those  who  have  unsanctified  hearts 
and  unenlightened  minds. 

We  read  that  the  lord  of  that  servant  interfered,  and 
said,  "Oh!  thou  wicked  servant,  I  forgave  thee  all  that 
debt,  because  thou  desiredst  me :  shouldest  not  thou  also 
have  had  compassion  on  thy  fellow-servant,  even  as  I  had 
pity  on  thee  ?  And  his  lord  was  wroth,  and  delivered  him 
to  the  tormentors,  till  he  should  pay  all  that  was  due  unto 
him."  The  king  addressed  him  in  language  most  severe. 
No  man  is  so  wicked  as  he  that  sins  against  light,  except- 
ing the  man  that  sins  against  mercy.  When  we  have  re- 
ceived great  mercies,  and  trample  them  under  foot ;  great 
blessings,  and  despise  them,  and  treat  them  as  if  they  were 
no  blessings  at  all ;  then  we  grievously  sin  against  God. 
Slighted  mercies  always  issue  in  the  sharpest  judgments. 
Hence,  when  those  who  know  the  truth,  and  sat  under  the 
preaching  of  it,  go  out  and  deny  that  truth,  they  are  the 
guiltiest  of  all.  This  man  was  a  type  of  many  a  selfish 
Christian ;  ho  could  pray  one  part  of  the  Lord's  prayer, 
but  not  the  rest.  I  am  satisfied  that  the  Lord's  prayer  is 
very  easily  committed  to  memory,  but  it  is  very  hard  to  be 
learned  by  heart.  Many  a  Christian  can  pray,  "  Forgive 
us  our  trespasses,"  but  there  he  stops;  but  he  has  not 
learned  it  by  heart  unless  he  can  say,  Forgive  us  our  tres- 
passes, not  on  the  ground  of  our  forgiving  others,  but  that 
we,  under  the  sweet  sense  of  forgiveness,  may  go  out  and 
forgive  all  those  that  trespass  against  us.  Thus,  he  prayed 
one  part  of  the  prayer,  but  refused  the  rest.  He  was  de- 
livered, therefore,  by  the  judgment  of  his  lord,  we  are 


292  FORESHADOWS. 

told,  to  the  tormentors,  until  he  paid  the  last  farthing. 
{This  seems  strange.  It  is  the  only  part  of  the  parable 
which  seems  really  difficult.  The  judge  forgave  him  his 
first  debt  fully,  freely,  completely,  but  yet  we  are  told  that 
he  was  delivered  to  the  tormentors  till  he  should  pay  the 
last  farthing.  Thus  it  seems  as  if  the  judge  had  revoked 
Jiis  forgiveness ;  hut,  if  so,  we  cannot  regard  this  as  a  type 
of  the  forgiveness  of  God.  Whatever  God  gives  is  with- 
out repentance,  is  never  revoked,  and  it  cannot  be  revoked. 
But  some  have  tried  to  explain  it  thus :  it  was  not  the  first 
debt,  they  say,  that  was  due  to  him,  but  the  debt  he  had 
incurred  by  the  sin  he  had  committed  in  the  treatment  he 
had  dealt  out  to  his  fellow-servant.  If  so,  this  perfectly 
explains  it.  He  owed  love  to  his  fellow-servant,  but  he 
paid  in  hate.  He  owed  mercy  to  his  fellow-servant,  but 
he  paid  what  he  owed  in  cruelty  and  crime.  He  owed  for- 
giveness to  his  fellow-servant,  from  the  fact  that  he  him- 
self was  forgiven,  but  instead  of  forgiveness  he  exacted  the 
utmost  farthing.  He  incurred  a  new  death,  and  the  hea- 
viest of  the  twain.  He  was  cast  out,  therefore,  to  the 
tormentors,  till  he  should  pay  the  last  farthing. 

Such  are  some  of  the  lessons  we  extract  from  this  para- 
ble. Let  us  rejoice  that  forgiveness  is  the  grand  charac- 
teristic of  the  gospel  of  Christ ;  that  what  we  must  ask  is 
not  payment,  nor  reward  of  merit,  but  simply,  free,  full, 
complete  forgiveness.  The  words  are,  "Forgive  us  our 
trespasses,  as  we  forgive  them  that  trespass  against  us." 
Let  us  learn  that  we  receive  forgiveness  in  order  that  we 
may  forgive.  Forgiveness  is  not  given  to  us  as  if  we  were 
to  be  the  conclusive  or  final  absorbents  of  it  for  our  own 
enjoyment,  but  it  is  given  to  us  to  be  a  motive  to  go  forth, 
to  be  god-like,  have  a  divine  life,  and  forgive  the  faults  of 
others.  It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  never  is  one's  sense 
of  God's  forgiveness  to  us  so  dimmed  and  clouded  as  when 


FORGIVEN   AND   FORGIVING.  293 

we  cherish  wrath,  enmity,  malice,  and  revenge  toward  any 
others.  Many  of  those  persons  who  complain  that  they 
have  no  assurance  of  forgiveness,  in  order  to-  get  rid  of 
that,  and  realize  the  assurance,  would  do  well  to  get  rid  of 
all  the  clouds,  and  mists,  and  fogs  of  evil  passions,  and 
corrupt  feelings  of  revenge,  ill-will,  enmity,  and  malice 
which  they  cherish  toward  others.  The  tree  of  life  Avill 
grow  in  that  soil  in  which  the  upas  trees  of  this  world 
have  been  uprooted.  The  sunshine  of  God's  kindness  will 
light  upon  that  heart  that  is  pure,  and  kept  so,  by  the 
Spirit  of  purity  and  of  all  love. 

And,  in  thinking  of  the  gospel,  let  your  great  idea  of 
forgiveness  be  that  which  is  ever  prominent  to  your  minds. 
Think  less  of  God  demanding,  and  think  more  of  God 
simply  forgiving.  As  our  view  of  God  is,  so  will  be  our 
treatment  toward  others.  Let  us  learn  what  Christianity 
should  be  in  our  conduct.  It  is  not  making  a  beautiful 
eulogium  on  it.  It  is  not  an  eloquent  or  an  argumentative 
defence  of  it.  It  is  not  a  panegyric  on  its  beauties,  or  an 
oration  on  its  excellence  and  perpetuity,  but  it  is  being 
Christians.  He  that  is  a  Christian  does  more  to  spread 
the  gospel  than  the  man  who  writes  eloquent  apologies  for 
the  Bible,  or  most  able  and  conclusive  defences  of  Chris- 
tianity. In  teaching  our  children  what  the  gospel  is,  let 
us  not  fail  to  teach  them  the  great  idea,  that  God  is  not  a 
Judge  terrible  and  exacting,  but  a  Father  graciously  and 
bountifully  giving  and  forgiving.  I  believe  if  there  were 
more  evangelical  views  in  the  nursery,  thertf  would  be 
more  evangelical  men  in  the  church  of  Christ.  Let  not 
those  who  are  zealous  for  an  evangelical  ministry,  forget 
that  they  must  be  as  zealous  for  an  evangelical  tutor  or 
governess.  I  believe  at  the  present  moment  that  the 
child's  pinafore  is  the  symbol  of  greater  force  and  influence 
than  the  archbishop's  apron.  At  all  events,  the  nursery 

25* 


294  FORESHADOWS. 

is  a  more  momentous  element  of  the  social  system  than 
we  are  often  disposed  to  admit.  The  children  of  to-day 
are  the  adults  of  to-morrow,  and  our  bequests  to  the  next 
generation.  What  the  bequests  are  in  moral  character, 
the  next  generation  will  be  in  happiness  or  misery,  in  holi- 
ness or  sin.  May  the  Lord  teaeh  us,  may  the  Lord  bless 
our  nurseries,  our  schools,  and  our  churches,  and  help  us 
to  teach  them  what  we  feel  ourselves,  that  Christianity  is 
good  news ;  that  to  be  a  Christian  is  to  be  happy ;  that 
God  is  the  Father  of  all  that  believe,  and  we  his  children ; 
and  in  this  bright  and  beautiful  thought  we  shall  have  the 
augury,  the  earnest,  and  the  foretaste  of  heaven. 


LECTURE    XVIII. 

THE    BARREN    FIG-TREE. 

He  spake  also  this  parable  ;  A  certain  man  had  a  fig-tree  planted  in  his  vineyard ; 
and  he  came  and  sought  fruit  thereon,  and  found  none.  Then  said  he  unto 
the  dresser  of  his  vineyard,  Behold,  these  three  years,  I  come  seeking  fruit 
on  this  fig-tree,  and  find  none  :  cut  it  down  ,•  why  cumbereth  it  the  ground  ? 
And  he  answering  said  unto  him,  Lord,  let  it  alone  this  year  also,  till  I  shall 
dig  about  it,  and  dung  it :  and  if  it  bear  fruit,  well :  and  if  not,  then  after  that 
thou  shalt  cut  it  down. — LUKE  xm.  6-9. 

BY  a  reference  to  the  commencement  of  the  chapter, 
we  shall  see  the  historical  facts  which  suggested  the  pa- 
rable. "  There  were  present  at  tfiat  season  some  that 
told  him  of  the  Galileans,  whose  blood  Pilate  had  mingled 
with  their  sacrifices.  And  Jesus  answering  said  unto 
them,  Suppose  ye,  that  these  Galileans  were  sinners 
above  all  the  Galileans,  because  they  suffered  such  things  ? 
I  tell  you,  Nay ;  but  except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  like- 
wise perish.  Or  those  eighteen,  upon  whom  the  tower 
in  Siloam  fell,  and  slew  them,  think  ye  that  they  were 
sinners  above  all  men  that  dwelt  in  Jerusalem  ?  I  tell 
you,  Nay :  but,  except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise 
perish."  Then  spake  he  to  them  this  parable,  which  was 
meant  to  convey  to  them  the  great  truth  whicn  they  seem 
to  have  overlooked  in  their  speculations  upon  the  destruc- 
tion of  these  Galileans,  whose  blood  Pilate  had  mingled 
with  their  sacrifices.  It  is  important  and  instructive  to 
notice,  that  the  inference  they  drew  was  just  this,  that 
those  who  were  slain,  and  whose  destruction  was  so  sudden, 
were  signally  guilty,  and  they  themselves,  whose  lives 


296  FORESHADOWS. 

were  spared,  were  signally  virtuous.  They  drew  the  con- 
venient conclusion,  that  those  who  suffered  were  signally 
guilty,  and  added  the  inference  which  seemed  to  be  natural, 
that  they  who  were  spared  were  signally  virtuous.  Now 
this  has  all  the  plausibility  of  truth,  but  it  is  not  correct; 
the  observation  seems  so  far  perfectly  right,  but  the  pre- 
mises on  which  it  leans  had  been  altogether  misappre- 
hended ;  and  this  teaches  us  that  our  reasoning  needs  to 
be  sanctified,  as  well  as  our  recollection,  and  our  reading, 
1  and  our  thinking,  and  our  feeling.  Do  we  not  see,  for 
instance,  how,  from  the  very  same  premises,  three  different 
parties  may  draw  three  different  conclusions.  Thus,  for 
instance,  "All  things  are  transitory;  the  world  and  all 
that  are  in  it  is  passing  away."  From  this  are  deduced 
three  conclusions :  the  Epicurean  says,  "  Let  us  eat  and 
drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die ;"  the  ascetic  says,  "  Therefore 
let  us  mortify,"  not  the  lusts  of  the  body,  "  but  the  body 
itself;  retire  from  the  world,  live  out  of  it,  and  even 
against  it ;"  and  the  Christian  says,  "  The  time  is  short, 
therefore  let  us  buy  as  though  we  possessed  not ;  let  us 
use  the  world  as  not  abusing  it ;  for  the  fashion  of  it 
passeth  away."  Thus  we  learn  that  we  need  to  be  taught 
by  the  Spirit  of  God,  not  only  to  put  right  interpretations 
on  his  holy  word ;  but  even  when  these  interpretations  are 
perfectly  correct,  to  draw  right,  logical  conclusions  from 
them.  We  have  in  these  opening  words,  to  which  I  have 
very  briefly  referred,  an  instance  of  man's  constant  tend- 
ency in  every  age  to  ascertain  what  he  is,  not  by  an  ex- 
amination of  himself,  and  a  comparison  of  his  conduct 
with  the  right  standard,  but  by  looking  at  what  happens  to 
him,  and  so  judging  what  he  is ;  in  other  words,  the  com- 
mand of  the  apostle  is,  Examine  yourselves  ;  the  practice 
of  mankind  is,  Examine  God's  providence.  If  we  examine 
ourselves,  we  may,  if  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  come 


THE    BARREN   FIG-TREE.  297 

to  a  right  conclusion.  If  we  examine  God's  providence 
only,  we  may  come  to  a  wrong  one.  What  befalls  us  is 
not  the  evidence  of  what  we  are,  but  what  God  shows  us 
to  be  is  the  true  picture  of  what  we  truly  and  really  are. 
Hence  therefore  the  conclusion,  that  those  who  are  sud- 
denly destroyed  are  signally  guilty,  is  altogether  a  wrong 
conclusion  ;  the  greatest  sinner  is  often  spared  to  a  most 
protracted  age;  the  greatest  saint  is  often  cut  down  in 
the  meridian  of  his  days,  like  a  flower  of  the  field.  The 
spared  one  who  lives  to  ninety  may  be  the  guiltiest ;  the 
one  cut  down  at  thirty  or  forty  may  be  the  greatest  and 
most  devoted  saint.  And  we  also  learn  from  this,  that  the 
place  where  one  dies  ought  not  to  lead  us  to  pronounce 
upon  the  character  of  hirn  that  dies.  One  dies  at  one 
place,  another  at  another ;  one  under  one  range  of  cir- 
cumstances, another  under  another  range.  Yet  one  may 
pronounce  upon  some  places,  that  it  is  not  the  place  where 
a  Christian  should  be  found.  To  the  living  we  are  to 
preach  repentance  and  acceptance ;  about  the  dead,  we 
are  to  be  silent ;  it  is  not  ours  to  mount  the  judgment- 
throne,  and  pronounce  sentence.  Ever  as  we  thus  try  to 
steal  a  ray  from  the  glory  of  God,  it  will  be  found  that 
we  take  a  curse  into  our  own  bosom.  Again,  I  may  notice, 
just  in  glancing  at  the  passage,  that  we  are  apt  to  think, 
when  we  see  a  great  judgment  happen,  that  punishment  is 
always  in  proportion  to  crime.  The  Jews  said,  these  Gali- 
leans must  have  been  terribly  guilty,  seeing  that  so  terrible 
a  calamity  overtook  them.  It  is  not  so  ;  this  is  not  a  dis- 
pensation of  judgment ;  if  it  were  so,  then  'the  punish- 
ment and  the  crime  would  be  exactly  proportioned  to  each 
other ;  but  this  is  the  dispensation  of  election,  the  dispen- 
sation of  God's  mingled  and  mysterious  providence.  There 
is  confusion  enough  in  God's  providential  dealings  with 
us  to  make  us  long  for  the  judgment-day ;  and  yet  there 


298  FORESHADOWS. 

is  connection  enough  between  crime  and  punishment  to 
show  that  God  reigns  over  all  the  earth.  Were  the  pu- 
nishment always  proportioned  to  the  crime,  there  would  be 
no  need  of  a  judgment-day ;  were  there  no  evidence  of 
punishment  following  crime,  there  would  be  no  proof  that 
God  reigns.  Therefore  there  is  just  confusion  enough,  and 
yet  order  enough,  darkness  enough,  and  yet  light  enough, 
to  lead  us  to  see  that  God  reigns,  and  to  convince  us  that 
there  is  to  be  a  judgment-day.  There  is  also  in  this  mis- 
apprehension made  by  the  Jews  respecting  the  Galileans, 
another  fault  which  I  may  correct :  their  seeing  God  in 
judgment  only.  This  is  more  or  less  the  tendency  of  us 
all :  if  any  thing  good  happen  to  us,  we  attribute  it  to 
secondary  causes  :  It  was  my  good  fortune,  my  energy, 
such  circumstances,  such  arrangements  ;  but  if  any  thing 
calamitous,  disastrous,  and  terrible  happen  to  us,  we  are 
ready  to  say  immediately,  "It  is  the  Lord's  doing,  it  is 
the  Lord's  pleasure."  We  ought  to  see  God  in  light 
things  as  well  as  in  dark  things,  in  blessing  as  well  as  cala- 
mity ;  we  ought  to  "ascribe  the  one  and  the  other  equally 
to  him,  who  reigns  over  all,  who  gives  and  who  takes 
away,  and  of  whom  we  are  called  upon  still  to  pronounce 
"Blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord."  In  order  to  teach 
these  Jews  the  necessity  of  instant  repentance,  our  Lord 
says,  "Unless  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish." 
But  this  parable  is  fitted  to  show  them  the  necessity  of 
instant,  immediate,  and  present  repentance.  The  fig-tree 
was  to  be  cut  down  in  consequence  of  its  not  bearing  fruit. 
No  doubt  this  parable  was  primarily  meant  for  the  Jews 
as  a  nation ;  but  it  is  not  meant  for  them  only^  but  has 
reference  to  individuals  in  every  age,  and  in  every  country : 
it  has  a  personal  application,  which  we  have  only  to  exa- 
mine in  order  to  perceive.  It  speaks  in  the  first  place  of 
man  as  compared  to  a  tree.  This  is  a  very  favourite 


THE   BARREN   FIG-TREE.  299 

symbol  in  the  word  of  God :  "  Make  the  tree  good  and 
his  fruit  good."  "  How  can  a  corrupt  tree  bring  forth  good 
fruit  ?"  These  and  other  passages  are  proofs  of  the  tree 
being  frequently  used  to  denote  man  ;  and  then  the  fruit 
bears  to  the  tree  the  same  relation  as  good  works  bear  to 
the  individual.  Thus  fruit  on  a  tree  is  not  something  tied 
on  from  without,  but  it  is  something  originated  by  the 
vital  sap  from  within.  In  short,  fruit  is  the  exponent  of 
the  inner  substance  of  the  tree  itself ;  so  it  is  with  the 
works  done  by  man  ;  whatever  the  man  is,  that  the  works 
are ;  whatever  his  inner  life  is,  that  his  outer  conduct  will 
be.  In  Scripture  we  read  that  there  are  three  sorts  of 
works ;  there  are  first  of  all  wicked  works,  the  fruit  of  a 
corrupt  tree :  secondly,  dead  works,  those  that  have  the 
appearance  of  good  works,  but  are  merely  put  on  from 
without.  The  Pharisees  did  their  works  to  be  seen  of 
men ;  these  did  not  spring  from  the  tree,  but  were  grafted 
on  by  influences  and  for  reasons  from  without  it.  There 
are,  lastly,  good  works,  the  outward  proofs  visible  to  the 
world  of  a  good  and  pure  tree,  i.  e.  of  a  good  and  holy  heart. 
Now  it  is  here  said,  that  the  great  husbandman  who 
planted  this  tree  had  come  these  three  years  seeking  fruit. 
Perhaps  we  are  not  to  interpret  every  clause  and  allusion 
in  the  parable  as  if  meant  to  convey  moral  instruction ; 
parts  may  be  necessary  simply  as  adjuncts  to  fill  up  the 
parable,  and  make  the  story  complete.  «  These  three  years" 
have  had  various  interpretations  given  them  ;  one  is,  that 
the  first  year  represented  the  time  of  the  patriarchs,  the 
second  year  the  time  of  the  written  law,  the  third  year  the 
time  of  Christ's  ministry  in  the  flesh.  Another  view  has 
been,  that  God,  the  husbandman,  comes  seeking  fruit  first 
by  Moses,  secondly  by  the  prophets,  thirdly  by  Christ  him- 
self, thus  making  three  eras.  And  another  interpretation, 
which  seems  more  beautiful  than  others,  and  certainly  at 


300  FORESHADOWS. 

least  as  appropriate,  has  been  proposed ;  that  childhood  is 
the  first  year,  manhood  the  second,  and  old  age  the  third ; 
and  that  God  comes  to  us  when  young,  comes  to  us  in  man- 
hood, then  comes  to  us  in  old  age,  still  seeking  that  which 
he  ever  seeks,  the  visible  fruit  of  our  union,  communion, 
and  fellowship  with  him.  But  it  is  here  stated,  that  though 
he  thus  came  to  this  tree,  which  is  here  symbolic  of  the 
individual  placed  in  a  genial  soil,  cheered  by  sunbeams, 
and  watered  by  rain-drops,  for  "these  three  years,"  he 
found  none ;  in  consequence  of  which  he  ordered  it  to  be 
cut  down.  There  is  far  more  meaning  conveyed  in  the 
original  than  in  our  translation.  It  is  in  our  translation, 
"  Cut  it  down,  why  cumbereth  it  the  ground  ?"  but  the 
word  xdi  (also)  is  by  some  oversight  omitted,  so  that  the  full 
meaning  is,  "  Cut  it  down,  why  does  it  also  cumber  the 
ground  ?"  i.  e.  cut  it  down,  first,  for  its  barrenness,  and, 
secondly,  because  it  is  a  bane  to  other  trees  that  grow  around 
it.  Cut  it  down,  first,  because  it  bears  no  fruit,  and,  secondly, 
because  it  exercises  a  baneful  influence  on  the  other  trees 
of  the  vineyard,  or  on  the  fig  forest,  that  is  round  about  it. 
Now  this  teaches  us,  that  God  does  not  only  take  notice  of 
what  is  done  by  individuals,  but  takes  cognizance  of  the 
barrenness  of  the  individual.  It  is  not  required,  in  order 
to  be  guilty,  that  you  should  do  what  is  wrong ;  you  are 
guilty  by  leaving  undone  what  you  ought  to  do.  In  other 
words,  you  may  not  only  be  a  bane,  but  you  may  be  barren, 
which  is  scarcely  less  hateful,  for  which  also  you  will  be 
judged  in  the  sight  of  God.  But  it  is  cut  down,  not  simply 
because  itself  was  barren ;  this  was  one  reason,  and  it  is 
the  first  reason  quoted  here :  but  it  is  cut  down,  also,  because 
it  cumbered  the  ground ;  by  its  shadow  it  intercepted  the 
sunbeams  and  rains  from  the  lesser  plants ;  it  occupied  space 
that  might  have  had  better  trees  planted  on  it ;  and  there- 
fore it  was  to  be  cut  down.  Does  not  this  teach  us  that 


THE   BARREN   FIG-TREE.  301 

God's  judgments  are  always  connected  with  God's  greatest 
mercies.  He  never  inflicts  a  judgment  alone  ;  it  is  always 
in  some  way  connected  with  a  mercy.  Thus  the  judgment 
shown  in  cutting  down  the  barren  tree,  is  mercy  shown  to 
the  rest  of  the  trees  of  the  garden.  In  other  words,  the 
removal  of  that  which  is  barren  in  judgment,  came  to  be 
the  bestowing  of  a  richer  blessing  upon  those  that  are  bring- 
ing forth  fruit.  The  barren  fig-tree  was  removed  for  its 
own  sake,  it  is  true,  but  it  was  also  removed  for  the  sake  of 
others  that  were  around  it.  How  beautiful  is  this,  then, 
that  God  never  sends  a  judgment  on  the  earth  that  has  not 
in  its  bosom  a  blessing  also !  A  judgment  upon  those  who 
have  provoked  it ;  a  blessing  upon  those  who  may  be  bring- 
ing forth,  or  seeking  to  bring  forth,  the  fruit  of  righteous- 
ness. I  need  not  say  that  if  this  parable  applied  to  the 
Jews,  this  was  specially  their  condition.  God  had  long 
spared  them ;  year  after  year  he  came  seeking  fruit,  and  they 
brought  forth  none ;  and  the  warning  here  was  specially 
for  them,  that  they  were  soon  to  be  cut  down  as  cumberers 
of  the  ground.  And  have  we  not  seen  the  same  thing  illus- 
trated in  the  histories  of  other  nations  ?  In  the  case  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  how  long  has  he  borne  with  her  !  how  long 
endured  her  existence,  seeking  fruit  and  finding  none  !  But 
the  practical  and  precious  part  of  its  instruction  is  for  us : 
are  we  bringing  forth  fruit  ?  if  not  bad  fig-trees,  are  we 
barren  trees  ?  or  are  we  doing  not  merely  that  which  is  cor- 
rupt, but  also  that  which  is  positively  good  ?  how  much  good 
are  we  doing  ?  how  much  better  is  the  world  for  us  ?  Could  it 
be  written  upon  any  of  our  tombstones  by  any  finger  upon 
earth,  that  not  a  few  were  made  better  and  happier  because 
this  man  lived  ?  Or  is  it  the  best  that  can  be  said  of  us,  that 
we  did  no  harm,  though  it  might  be  added  that  we  did  no 
good?  If  so,  we  are  barren  trees,  and  cumberers  of  the 
ground.  When  the  husbandman  determined  to  cut  it  down, 

IU  SEH.  26 


302  FORESHADOWS. 

there  was  heard  an  interceding  voice,  "Let  it  alone  this 
year,  do  not  just  yet  cut  it  down ;  let  it  remain  a  little 
longer;  have  patience  with  it,  exercise  forbearance,  and 
see  if  after  all  it  will  not  bring  forth  fruit.  May  we  not 
suppose  that  this  is  the  interceding  Son  of  God,  the  Lamb 
slain  from  the  foundation  of  the  world,  who  pleads  and 
intercedes  for  each  and  all  that  are  ready  to  be  cut  down, 
that  they  may  at  least  be  spared  as  experiments ;  that  it 
may  not  be  felt  by  themselves  or  said  by  others,  that  they 
had  not  full,  free,  unfettered  scope  for  adorning  the  doc- 
trine which  they  professed?  And  we  ought  never  to  for- 
get that  Christ's  intercession  is  just  as  important  as  Christ's 
sacrifice ;  his  sacrifice  redeemed,  his  intercession  keeps  us 
redeemed :  in  virtue  of  his  sacrifice  he  merited  for  us  all 
the  blessings  of  the  promise;  in  virtue  of  his  intercession 
he  makes  over  to  us  eventually  the  enjoyment  of  his  bless- 
ing; and  hence,  if  Christ  had  never  died,  nothing  had 
been  merited  for  us ;  but  if  Christ  did  not  intercede  for  us 
as  a  Prince  and  a  Saviour  upon  his  throne,  nothing  could 
actually  reach  us.  Let  us  never  attempt  to  magnify  one 
office  of  the  Lord  of  glory  to  the  exclusion  of  another.  If 
he  be  our  Priest,  he  is  also  our  Prophet;  if  our  Prophet, 
he  is  also  our  King.  And  he  who  holds  him  truly  in  one 
capacity,  holds  him  practically  and  truly  in  all.  We  may 
also  notice,  that  the  intercession  of  Christ  is  referred  to 
always  in  Scripture  as  the  reason  why  the  world  itself  is 
spared.  I  believe  that  the  constant  demand  of  justice  is, 
that  this  world  should  be  expunged,  that  its  guilty  ones 
should  be  cast  out  for  ever ;  but  the  constant  cry  has  been 
heard  sounding  along  the  ages  since  the  world  fell,  Spare 
it  yet  another  year.  This  was  the  cry  that  closed  1851 : 
Spare  it  yet  another  year,  and  if  it  bring  forth  fruit,  well. 
It  is  this  intercession  also  that  supports  believers  when 
Satan  desires  to  have  them,  that  he  may  sift  them  as  wheat. 


THE   BARREN   FIG-TREE.  303 

As  soon  as  this  year  of  protracted  forbearance  is  added  to 
the  three  that  are  gone  before,  the  tree  stands  with  the  axe 
lying  at  its  root.  It  is  not  yet  lifted  up;  the  judgment  is 
suspended ;  God's  mercies  are  continued ;  the  intercession 
of  Christ  still  lasts :  and  then,  if  another  year  still  leaves 
the  tree  barren,  love,  and  mercy,  and  justice,  and  righteous- 
ness, demand  that  it  shall  be  cut  down,  that  the  rest  of  the 
vineyard  may  not  be  made  barren  by  its  shadow.  There 
is  a  very  curious  recipe  for  making  a  barren  fig-tree  bear 
fruit,  which  seems  to  be  something  like  the  historical  basis 
on  which  this  parable  was  constructed.  Probably  some  such 
idea  prevailed  among  the  Jews ;  or  if  not,  the  Arabs  may 
have  caught  the  tradition  of  the  parable,  and  turned  it  to 
this  account.  The  prescription  of  the  Arab  is,  "  Take  a 
hatchet  and  go  to  the  tree  with  a  friend ;  unto  whom  say, 
'I  will  cut  down  this  tree,  for  it  is  unfruitful.'  He  will  an- 
swer, <  Do  not  so  this  year ;  it  will  certainly  bear  fruit.'  But 
the  other  says,  'It  should  have  been  hewn  down,'  and  gives 
the  tree  three  blows  with  the  hatchet.  The  other  restrains 
him,  crying,  'Have  patience  with  it;  be  not  over  hasty  in 
cutting  it  down ;  if  it  still  refuses  to  bear  fruit,  then  cut  it 
down.' "  And  then  it  is  added,  "If  this  be  done,  the  tree 
will  be  sure  to  bear  fruit  abundantly  during  the  next  year." 
I  read  the  story  as  presenting  a  remarkable  coincidence  be- 
tween the  historical  basis  of  the  parable,  and  a  fact  that  is 
known  to  prevail  as  a  sort  of  magic  recipe  among  the  Arabs. 

Having  looked  then  at  this  illustration  of  the  parable,  let 
me  record  two  or  three  lessons  that  may  be  drawn  from  it. 

The  first  lesson  that  we  should  learn  from  the  parable  is 
this;  that  we  are  here  in  a  state  of  probation:  the  tree 
during  the  three  years  in  which  the  husbandman  came  to 
it  looking  for  fruit,  was  in  a  state  of  probation ;  and  when 
spared  for  another  year,  its  probation  became  only  the  more 
critical.  It  is  so  with  us :  we  are  now  preparing  cither  for 


304  FORESHADOWS. 

being  cut  down  and  cast  into  the  fire,  or  for  being  trans- 
planted in  full  bloom,  and  placed  in  a  more  genial  clime 
and  in  a  more  glorious  soil.  In  other  words,  character  is 
created  now,  which  is  to  last  for  ever;  heaven  is  not  man 
made  anew,  but  it  is  the  expansion  of  what  man  is  now. 
Hell  is  not  a  total  change,  it  is  simply  the  development 
of  what  the  man  is  now.  And  it  is  this  consideration  which 
lends  to  this  world  its  gigantic  interest ;  that  we  are  every 
day,  just  as  sure  as  suns,  dews,  and  rains  make  the  tree 
germinate  and  bring  forth  fruit,  good,  bad,  or  none  at  all ; 
so  sure  influences  are  now  accumulating  upon  us,  and  im- 
pressing upon  us  a  seal  everlasting  as  the  throne  of  God, 
and  a  character  which  has  in  itself  the  germ  of  happiness 
or  the  germ  of  endless  misery.  It  is  just  the  year  now 
passing  that  lends  to  the  year  still  coming  its  vast  import- 
ance. The  value  of  present  time  is  not  that  dynasties 
have  been  changed,  thrones  upset,  not  because  the  tiara  has 
been  crushed  and  trampled  in  the  dust,  not  because  the 
whole  of  Europe  has  been  stirred  until  it  has  become  all 
but  chaos ;  but  the  vast  importance  of  each  year,  the  gi- 
gantic importance  of  the  present,  is  that  we  have  either 
taken  some  steps  nearer  to  the  throne  of  God,  or  have  made 
a  retrogression  nearer  to  the  realms  of  the  guilty  and  the 
lost.  Each  year  sustains  a  vast  importance  to  us,  not  from 
what  its  political,  its  social,  and  its  national  convulsions 
have  been,  but  from  the  moral  influence  that  it  has  left 
upon  us:  our  character  has  been  "made  or  marred"  in  the 
lapse  of  it ;  we  have  contracted  habits  which  make  us  ho- 
lier, or  habits  which  make  us  worse.  We  are  not  the  same 
on  this  day,  1852,  that  we  were  on  the  corresponding  day, 
1851.  Let  us  look  back,  in  severe  retrospect — what  is  the 
inference?  Is  it  good?  is  it  bad?  is  the  impulse  you  have 
received  an  impulse  in  the  direction  of  heaven,  or  is  it  an 
impulse  in  the  direction  that  is  the  opposite  ?  Let  us  not 


THE   BARREN   FIG-TREE.  305 

suppose  that  probation  is  required  for  earth,  but  is  not  re- 
quired for  heaven :  it  seems,  by  every  analogy  to  which  we 
can  refer,  that  probation,  preparation,  fitness  is  required 
for  every  thing  in  heaven  and  earth.     The  world  itself  re- 
quires probation  in  a  man  before  it  will  take  him  into  its 
service ;  so  much  so,  that  a  character  is  regarded  in  this 
world  as  so  much  positive  capital:  a  man's  character  be- 
comes capital.     No  man  takes  another  into  his  confidence, 
or  his  business,  unless  by  some  previous  probation  he  has 
shown  that  he  is  likely  to  do  justice  to  him ;  so,  in  the  same 
manner,  it  would  be  unreasonable  to  expect  that  a  man 
should  be  a  good  physician  without  first  going  through  a 
probation,  or  a  good  lawyer,  or  a  good  preacher,  or  good 
in  any  one  office  of  life :  and  who  can  suppose  that  we  shall 
be  fitted  to  praise  God,  and  serve  God,  and  love  God,  and 
glorify  God  intensely  for  ever  and  ever,  if  we  have  never 
made  any  preparation  for  it  in  this  world,  in  which  we  were 
placed  for  this  express  and  specific  purpose.     I  believe  that 
a  great  many  of  our  errors  arise  from  the  idea  that  death 
is  an  instant,  total,  complete  change  of  what  we  were ;  or 
that  if  it  be  not,  there  is  always  left  before  death  an  op- 
portunity of  making  that  change.     This  is  a  great  mistake; 
the  general  law  is,  that  ninety-nine  men  out  of  every  hun- 
dred die  just  as  they  lived;  that  is  the  great  law.     I  am 
not  speaking  of  what  may  be,  but  of  what  is  fact,  that 
most  men  die  just  as  they  live;  and  if  we  -have  lived 
strangers  to  God,  the  probability  is  that  we  shall  die  so. 
Thus  we  have  in  this  parable  evidence  that  we  are  here  in 
a  state  of  probation  or  preparation ;  being  ripened  or  ma- 
tured for  another  state  beyond  the  grave ;  and  that  what 
we  become  here,  determines  what  we  shall  be  hereafter ; 
that  heaven  is  the  prolongation  of  the  life  of  the  new 
man,  hell  the  prolongation  of  the  life  of  the  old  man: 
the  one  is  character  stamped  for  ever,  and  progressively 

26« 


306  FORESHADOWS. 

developed;  the  other  is  character  stamped  for  ever,  and 
for  ever  developed  and  unfolded  also.  In  referring  to  this 
life,  we  often  speak  as  if  Christian  men  only  lived  for  eter- 
nity. We  say,  "  Such  a  man  is  living  for  eternity,  and  such 
a  man  is  not  living  for  eternity."  But  this  is  a  grievous 
misapprehension.  The  truth  is,  all  men,  without  exception, 
live  for  eternity:  in  every  place,  in  every  profession,  in 
every  rank,  men  are  living  for  eternity;  the  queen  on  her 
throne,  the  senator  in  the  parliament,  the  physician,  the 
lawyer,  the  tradesman,  are  all  living  for  eternity;  all  are 
rushing  like  rapid  streams  into  that  bottomless  and  gigantic 
sea;  only  that  the  Christian  feels  the  fact  and  lives  accord- 
ingly, and  the  unconverted  man  never  feels  it  nor  thinks 
of  it ;  or,  if  the  thought  intrude,  he  dislodges  it  from  his 
mind  as  rapidly  as  possible.  And  when  these  two  streams 
thus  rush  to  eternity,  parallel  to  all  appearance  before  they 
meet  at  the  judgment-seat,  there  they  diverge ;  one  to  rush 
upward,  sparkling  in  beauty  and  in  sunshine,  till  it  spreads 
before  the  throne  a  sea  of  glory;  the  other  to  rush  down- 
ward, till  it  is  lost  in  a  dead  sea  of  endless  and  irremediable 
despair.  Every  class  of  mankind  live  for  eternity,  only 
the  Christian  feels  the  fact  and  acts  up  to  it,  and  the  thought- 
less not  only  do  not  feel  it,  but  labour  in  every  possible  way 
to  prevent  their  feeling  it. 

Again,  we  learn  from  this  parable,  that  God  is  always 
dealing  with  us,  in  order  to  make  us  what  we  should  be,  and 
to  bring  forth  the  fruit  that  we  were  originally  designed  to 
produce.  For  instance,  on  this  fig-tree,  during  the  three 
years  it  stood,  God's  sunshine  lightened  as  much  as  on  the 
most  fruitful  tree  in  the  vineyard;  God's  rain-drops  and 
dew-drops  fell  upon  it;  the  earth  still  underwent  its  cus- 
tomary changes;  the  winds  of  heaven  still  fanned  it;  every 
thing  was  done  for  that  tree  that  was  done  for  the  other 
trees  of  the  garden.  Now,  just  in  the  very  same  way  that 


THE   BARREN  FIG-TREE.  .       307 

God  dealt  with  this  tree,  sending  sunbeams,  and  rain-drops, 
and  winds,  and  fertile  soil ;  so  he  deals  with  every  indivi- 
dual; not  with  his  people,  his  election,  his  saints  only,  but 
with  all  people,  without  exception  and  without  limitation. 
Those  talents  with  which  he  has  endowed  us — that  pros- 
perity which  he  has  poured  into  our  cup — that  health  that 
he  has  made  to  rush  like  a  tide  through  our  veins — those 
glimpses  of  eternity  which  sometimes  dazzle  and  almost 
strike  blind  the  conscience — these  are  all  consecrated 
mercies  that  come  down  from  God,  like  the  rain-drops  and 
sunbeams,  to  mature,  and  prepare,  and  ripen  us  for  eternity. 
As  truly  as  God  sends  his  showers  upon  the  trees  of  the 
field,  he  sends  his  blessings,  in  this  dispensation,  on  the  just 
and  on  the  unjust.  Again,  God  deals  with  us  and  seeks  to 
teach  us  in  the  rapid  succession  of  hours  and  days  and 
months  and  yeajrs ;  the  very  interchange  of  the  seasons, 
the  changes  of  climate  and  of  weather,  are  all  fitted  to 
lead  us  to  this.  The  rapidity  with  which  the  solemn  pro- 
cession of  its  years  sweeps  by — the  fact,  which  we  can  all 
witness,  that  the  older  we  grow,  Christmas  seems  to  come 
round  more  quickly — are  all  eloquent  orations.  It  seems 
as  if,  up  to  a  certain  period  of  life,  we  had  been  climbing 
upward.  When  we  are  young  and  in  boyhood,  we  think 
we  shall  never  be  twenty ;  and  when  we  are  twenty,  it  will 
be  long  before  we  are  thirty;  and  when  thirty,  it  seems  as 
if  there  were  still  a  long  summit  or  pinnacle  of  sunshine 
to  attain  before  we  reach  forty.  But  after  we  have  past 
that  period  Christmas  comes  so  fast,  that  it  seems  as  if  we 
were  rolling  down-hill  with  accelerated  speed.  All  these 
things  are  calculated  to  teach  us — "Prepare,  0  Israel,  to 
meet  thy  God."  Then  the  succession  of  scenes,  the  vary- 
ing circumstances,  the  world  seeming  to  pass  before  us 
now  like  a  series  of  dissolving  views — one  no  sooner  ar- 
rived in  its  brilliancy  than  another  melts  into  it,  dislodges 


308        •  FORESHADOWS. 

it,  and  takes  its  place — all  these  things  are  meant  of  God 
to  teach  us,  as  ambassadors  from  his  throne,  that 

"  Art  is  long  and  time  is  fleeting, 

And  our  hearts,  though  strong  and  brave, 
Still  like  muffled  drums  are  beating 
Funeral  marches  to  the  grave." 

These  varying  changes,  and  the  rapidity  of  their  suc- 
cession, are  sent  and  commissioned  of  God  to  teach  us, 
that  we  are  passing  from  a  state  of  probation  to  one  of 
judgment  and  retribution,  where  we  shall  receive  the 
indelible  fixture  of  the  impressions  which  have  been  made 
on  our  souls  under  the  influences  of  God's  providence  on 
earth.  Is  not  the  Sabbath,  that  comes  round  every  week, 
a  messenger  from  God  teaching  us  the  same  lesson  ?  That 
beautiful  Sabbath  seems  almost  the  greatest  blessing  that 
we  have  upon  earth.  I  have  often  wondeced  that  men  do 
not  see  its  value  even  in  a  physical  point  of  view.  I  be- 
lieve that  if  the  state  were  to  surrender  the  Sabbath,  and 
to  give  the  worldly  and  thoughtless  a  reason  and  an  excuse 
for  disregarding  it,  the  poor  labourer  would  soon  sink  to 
the  level  of  the  serf,  or  even  down  to  the  very  brute  :  and 
he  may  depend  upon  it,  he  would  get  no  more  for  seven 
clays'  labour  than  now  for  six :  he  would  also  be  very  soon 
worn  out,  because  it  has  been  proved,  and  shown  most 
triumphantly,  that  any  man  who  works  seven  days  in  the 
week  at  the  same  thing,  whatever  that  thing  be,  will  very 
much  shorten  his  days.  It  has  been  found  with  brutes 
themselves,  as  if  God's  law  had  been  struck  into  the  dumb 
creation,  that  a  horse  worked  seven  days  will  not  do  so 
much  work,  nor  live  so  long,  as  a  horse  that  is  only  worked 
six  days  in  the  week.  And  what  is  true  of  the  animal,  is 
still  more  true  of  the  intellectual  and  moral  powers.  The 
Sabbath  is  however  a  far  higher  institution.  It  is,  as  it 
were,  a  fraction  of  heaven  let  down  upon  earth,  to  lead  us 


THE   BARREN   FIG-TREE.  309 

to  long  for  the  everlasting  Sabbath  in  the  presence  of 
God ;  as  if  God  threw  down  weekly  a  handful  of  heaven's 
sunbeams  to  give  us  some  foretaste  of  what  the  splendour 
of  his  presence  is,  and  so  create  some  longing  and  thirst- 
ing after  its  joys;  it  seems  as  if  it  were  a  magnet  let 
down  from  the  skies,  charged  with  all  holy  and  beautiful 
attractions,  to  draw  us  Godward.  And  therefore  let  us 
never  let  go  our  Sabbaths :  if  the  body  be  reluctant  to 
come  to  the  sanctuary,  let  us  bring  it  by  the  force  of  moral, 
intellectual,  spiritual  conviction.  We  dare  not  let  go  our 
Sabbaths :  next  to  the  Bible,  the  Sabbath  is  worth  pre- 
serving. And  the  most  successful  way  to  make  the  Sab- 
bath loved,  is  to  set  the  example  of  honouring  it.  All 
the  legislation  in  the  world  never  can  make  the  Sabbath 
observed;  and  unless  there  be  predominating  and  pre- 
vailing throughout  the  land  a  reverence  for  the  Sabbath 
practically  exhibited,  it  is  in  vain  that  we  petition  states- 
men to  legislate  for  it.  It  lies  with  the  people  themselves, 
with  the  Christian  church  herself,  to  make  the  Sabbath 
more  universally  hallowed  and  revered.  I  do  not  say  that 
our  Sabbath  is  the  Jewish  Sabbath.  It  is  not  ceremony, 
but  morality  ;  it  is  made  for  man,  not  man  for  it.  It  is  a 
day  of  joy ;  it  is  a  festival  or  feast,  not  a  fast ;  a  day  for 
retrospection,  for  circumspection,  for  prospect;  a  day  for 
thinking  of  God's  mercies  as  well  as  our  sins — a  day  for 
joy  in  the  recollection  of  the  one,  as  well  as  humiliation 
in  the  consciousness  of  the  other. 

God  also  sends  down  providential  judgments  to  teach 
us,  and  to  warn  us  that  the  year  of  our  trial  and  probation 
is  drawing  to  a  close.  He  sends  judgments  to  startle  us, 
afflictions  to  warn  us,  sickness  to  waste  us,  and  all  of  them 
reasoning  in  our  conscience  of  righteousness,  of  temper- 
ance, and  of  judgment.  Every  bereavement  that  we  feel, 
every  loss  that  we  sustain,  seems  to  be  the  sound  of  the 


310  FORESHADOWS. 

axe  being  laid  to  the  root  of  the  tree,  to  be  lifted  up  if  we 
remain  barren,  to  be  withdrawn  if  we  become  fruitful. 
God's  blessed  book  is  another  messenger  that  he  sends  to 
teach  us.  Its  warnings,  its  promises,  its  judgments,  its 
eloquence,  its  poetry,  are  all  fitted  to  warn,  to  awe,  and  to 
solemnize  us.  "  Search  the  Scriptures,"  says  our  Lord, 
"for  they  are  they  which  testify  of  me."  It  is  in  that 
blessed  book  that  we  read,  God  sent  his  Son  into  the 
world,  not  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world 
through  him  might  be  saved.  He  sends  also  his  Holy 
Spirit ;  for  the  Spirit  long  strives  with  the  ungodly ;  it  is 
recorded  that  he  strove  with  the  antediluvians  before  the 
flood';  and  he  may  strive  with  us,  as  he  did  with  those  who 
are  lost,  and  of  whom  God  will  say,  My  Spirit  shall  not 
strive  with  them  any  more.  May  we  remember  this  great 
truth,  which  this  parable,  is  so  fitted  to  teach,  that  what 
we  become  in  time,  that  we  shall  be  for  ever  and  ever  ;  that 
heaven  and  hell  are  opposite  characters  perpetuated ;  and 
if  we  are  not  conscious  of  something  of  the  character  of 
the  saints  of  God  upon  earth,  we  have  little  ground  for 
hoping  for  the  condition  of  the  saints  in  glory.  I  believe 
that  the  bitterest  agony  in  the  recollections  of  the  lost,  will 
be  their  remaining  sense  of  the  mercies  they  despised,  the 
opportunities  they  wasted,  the  advances  they  rejected,  the 
privileges  they  abused,  and  the  calls  of  repentance  to  which 
they  turned  a  deaf  ear.  For  the  privileges,  mercies,  intima- 
tions, calls  of  God,  if  not  beneficial,  are  not  therefore 
inoperative ;  if  they  do  not  soften,  they  harden ;  if  they 
leave  not  a  savour  of  life,  they  leave  a  savour  of  death.  No 
man  closes  the  year  with  the  same  responsibility,  or  the 
same  fitness  for  heaven,  with  which  he  began  it.  As  sure 
as  the  tree  was  either  made  worse  or  better  the  longer  it 
stood,  so  sure  a  man  is  either  improved  or  the  reverse  by 
the  influences  to  which  he  has  been  subject.  Habit  does 


THE    BARREN    FIG-TREE.  311 

its  deadly  work ;  if  we  have  got  through  one  year  reject- 
ing, resisting,  and  despising  the  claims  and  calls  of  God, 
we  shall  get  through  the  next  year  much  more  easily  in 
the  same  manner,  and  the  next  year  more  easily  still, 
until  at  last  we  shall  sit  and  hear  the  gospel  as  though  we 
heard  it  not,  and  the  preacher's  voice  as  a  very  pleasant 
lullaby,  and  the  minister's  warnings  as  water  spilt  upon 
the  ground  that  cannot  be  gathered  up.  And  how  long 
all  these  privileges  shall  last  is  never  certain.  Some  of 
us  may  still  be  in  the  three  years,  our  time  of  trial  may 
be  going  on ;  but  it  may  be  true  of  others  who  shall  read 
these  pages,  that  the  one  extra  year  is  now  gone.  There 
are  two  ways  of  cutting  down :  it  is  not  necessary  that 
they  should  be  cut  down  by  death.  The  husbandman  may 
say,  "Let  it  alone."  To  be  "let  alone,"  is  to  be  left, 
like  Pharaoh,  with  a  hardened  heart  and  deadened  sensi- 
bility. Or  he  may  say,  "  Cut  it  down,"  remove  it  at  once 
to  the  judgment-seat.  It  is  strictly  true,  that  the  Lord 
of  the  vineyard  walks  at  this  moment  through  every  con- 
gregation, visits  every  home,  and  looks  into  every  heart, 
noticing  who  are  barren  and  who  are  fruitful ;  and  that 
perhaps  he  is  saying  of  one,  This  should  be  cut  down  ;  but 
of  another  the  Intercessor  may  be  crying,  Spare  it  yet 
another  year.  1852  may  be  vouchsafed  to  you,  and  it 
may  be  your  closing  year ;  God  only  knows  :  all  that  wo 
do  know  is,  that  if  there  were  but  one  day  left  us  upon 
earth,  this  day  would  be  time  enough  for  us  now,  to  close 
with  the  offers  of  the  gospel,  and  to  spend  future  years 
very  differently  from  the  way  in  which  we  have  wasted  the 
past. 

Let  me  ask  every  reader  of  this  volume,  are  you  re- 
conciled to  God  ?  Are  you  at  peace  with  God  ?  It  is  im- 
possible that  you  can  be  happy,  if  you  have  God  for  your 
enemy.  Is  your  heart  still  enmity  to  God,  or  have  you  been 


312  FORESHADOWS. 

brought  into  peace  and  reconciliation  with  him  through 
the  blood  of  the  cross  ?  Are  you  convinced  that  his  law  is 
just,  and  holy,  and  true,  and  good?  Are  you  satisfied  that 
if  you  are  saved  it  must  be  through  Christ,  and  through 
him  alone  ?  And  are  you  resting  and  leaning  on  the  Rock 
of  ages  as  your  great  foundation  ?  Are  you  saying  in 
your  hearts,  "  I  count  all  things  but  loss  for  the  excellency 
of  the  knowledge  of  Christ  Jesus  my  Lord?"  Are  you, 
let  me  ask,  born  again  ?  I  do  not  ask,  are  you  scoffers  ? 
are  you  atheists  ?  are  you  skeptics  ?  I  presume  you  are 
not.  I  am  not  asking  that  question :  I  am  asking  simply 
the  great  question,  Are  you  born  again  ?  I  do  not  mind 
what  you  have  said,  or  what  you  have  done :  if  you  are 
not  born  again,  you  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God.  I 
beg  of  you  to  weigh  what  I  am  asking.  I  do  not  ask  if 
you  are  scoffers,  skeptics,  infidels,  atheists  ?  Nor,  are  you 
licentious,  immoral,  dishonest  ?  Nor,  what  you  have,  or 
what  you  have  not  done,  or  what  you  hope  to  do  ?  I  ask 
this  only — Are  you  born  again  ?  "  Except  a  man,"  whoever 
he  be,  "  be  born  again,  he  shall  not  see  the  kingdom  of 
God" — a  complete  change,  a  total  transformation,  "  a  new 
creature,"  "all  things  new,"  new  life,  new  heart,  new 
tastes,  new  sympathies,  new  joys.  Why  should  any  man 
remain  a  stranger  to  the  gospel  ?  It  will  cost  far  more 
pain,  trouble,  anxiety,  to  pass  through  the  world  sinning 
and  living  in  sin,  than  to  sacrifice  all  for  Christ,  and  to 
pass  through  the  world  serving  and  glorifying  him.  To  bid 
a  man  be  a  Christian,  is  just  to  invite  him  to  begin  to  be 
happy.  To  bid  a  man  believe  in  Jesus,  is  just  to  bid  that 
man  cross  the  boundary  and  take  the  first  step  of  that 
constant  progression  of  happiness  and  joy,  which  is  pos- 
sessed by  the  saints  of  God  for  ever.  Then  why  is  there 
one  acquainted  with  these  things  who  is  not  a  Christian  ? 
Is  God  unwilling  to  accept  you  ?  If  this  be  so,  certainly 


THE   BARREN   FIG-TREE.  313 

it  is  a  good  reason  for  your  not  being  a  Christian.  But  is 
it  so  ?  Hear  what  God  says  :  "  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the 
death  of  the  sinner,  saith  the  Lord ;"  He  ia  not  willing 
that  any  should  perish.  Do  you  say,  I  am  not  one  of  the 
elect.  If  this  be  so,  it  is  a  good  reason :  but  on  what 
evidence  do  you  say  so  ?  Have  you  seen,  what  I  have 
never  seen,  God's  secret  and  mysterious  records  ?  do  you 
know  any  thing  about  them  ?  has  any  angel  come  from 
heaven  to  whisper  to  you,  your  name  is  not  there  ?  Then 
what  reason  have  you  for  concluding  you  are  not  one  of 
the  elect  ?  None  at  all :  it  is  a  mere  hollow  pretext,  in 
order  to  excuse  your  continuing  just  as  you  are.  Why 
then  are  you  not  a  Christian  ?  Some  one  will  say,  Christ 
did  not  die  for  me.  If  that  be  so,  certainly  it  is  a  good 
reason.  But  who  are  you  that  you  make  such  an  exception 
for  yourself  ?  What  evidence  have  you  for  this  assertion  ? 
Is  there  any  thing  in  your  heart  or  in  your  mind  which 
separates  you  from  the  rest  of  mankind  ?  If  you  are  a 
sinner,  Christ  died  for  sinners.  If  you  are  the  chiefest 
of  sinners,  "  This  is  a  faithful  saying,  and  worthy  of  all 
acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the  world  to  save 
sinners ;  of  whom,"  says  the  apostle,  "  I  am  chief." 
Therefore  your  excuse  is  no  reason  at  all.  Does  Christ 
repel  you  ?  Does  he  put  you  away  ?  If  he  does  so,  this 
also  is  a  good  reason.  But  is  it  fact  that  he  does  so  ?  Is 
it  consistent  with  his  own  language,  "  Come  unto  me,  all 
ye  that  are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you 
rest ;"  "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast 
out ;"  "  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me  that  ye  may  have  life  ?" 
But  do  you  say  that  heaven  is  full,  and  there  is  no  room 
for  you  ?  That  is  a  good  reason  if  it  be  true,  but  it  is  not 
true  :  after  the  blind,  the  maimed,  the  halt,  the  lame  had 
been  gathered  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  it  is  said, 
"  Still  there  is  room."  Why  then,  I  ask  again,  are  you 

ir.  SEB.  27 


314  FORESHADOWS. 

not  a  Christian  ?  Do  you  answer,  My  sins  are  so  many,  so 
great,  so  grievous,  that  I  cannot  hope  they  will  be  for- 
given. If  this  be  so,  it  is  a  good  reason ;  but  what  does 
God  say  ?  "  Come  now  and  let  us  reason  together,  saith 
the  Lord  ;  though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  be  as 
white  as  snow  ;  though  they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall 
be  as  wool."  "The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from 
all  sin."  Or  is  this  your  reason,  that  the  pleasures  of  the 
world  are  sweeter  and  better  than  the  prospects  of  eternity  ? 
Then  make  the  experiment ;  try  it,  and  you  will  soon  learn 
that  the  pleasures  of  sin  are  not  without  their  alloy ;  that 
they  are  at  best  but  for  a  moment ;  and  that  they  are  not 
worthy  to  be  compared  with  the  glory  that  shall  be  re- 
vealed. And  when  you  make  the  experiment,  carry  with 
you  this  conviction,  "What  shall  it  profit  a  man,  if  he  gain 
the  whole  world  and  lose  his  own  soul  ?"  There  is  no 
reason  in  fact,  nor  in  the  Bible,  nor  on  God's  part,  why 
every  man  that  reads  these  pages  should  not  be  this  day 
at  peace  with  God  through  Jesus  Christ.  Lost  sheep,  the 
Shepherd  seeks  thee  !  Poor  prodigal,  feeding  upon  husks, 
thy  Father  is  looking  out  for  thee  :  so  little  reluctance 
will  he  have  to  welcome  thee,  that  all  heaven  will  ring  with 
joy  when  one  lost  sinner  is  found,  and  one  stray  prodigal 
is  restored  to  his  Father. 


315 


LECTURE  XIX. 

THE  END  OF  THE  YEAR  1848. 

And  he  answering  said  unto  him,  Lord,  let  it  alone  this  year  also,  till  I  shall 
dig  about  it,  and  dung  it :  and  if  it  bear  fruit,  well :  and  if  not,  then  after 
that  thou  shall  cut  it  down. — LUKE  xiii.  8,  9. 

I  INTRODUCED  my  remarks  upon  the  parable  of  the  fig- 
tree,  by  an  allusion  to  the  historical  incidents  recorded  in 
the  commencement  of  the  chapter,  namely,  the  slaughter 
of  the  Galileans  in  the  midst  of  their  sacrifices,  and  the  de- 
struction of  the  eighteen  by  the  fall  of  the  tower  of  Siloam. 
And  I  showed  in  what  respect  we  are  prone  to  form  con- 
clusions about  such  events  in  the  providence  of  God.  The 
Jews  thought  the  destruction  of  the  Galileans  was  evidence 
of  their  sin,  and  that  the  sparing  of  the  Jews  was  a  testi- 
mony from  God,  that  those  Jews  were  innocent.  Our  Lord 
meets  this  untrue,  but  not  uncommon  supposition,  by  telling 
them  that  God's  providential  dealings  are  not  the  true  cri- 
teria of  guilt,  but  God's  written  word.  I  am  not  to  judge  one 
man  to  be  specially  guilty,  because  he  is  suddenly  cut  off. 
Nor  am  I  to  judge  this  man  to  be  specially  excellent,  because 
wonderfully  spared.  I  am  not  to  determine  either  my  own 
moral  state,  or  the  moral  state  of  others,  by  the  providential 
arrangements  of  Heaven,  but  by  the  plain  prescriptions  of 
God's  revealed  will ;  and  perhaps  if  there  were  less  mistaken 
construction  of  God's  providence,  and  more  simple  appeal  to 
God's  word,  there  would  be  less  of  uncharitable  judgment  in 
the  minds  of  mankind.  Our  Lord,  to  illustrate  the  various 


816  FORESHADOWS. 

points  they  brought  before  him,  tells  these  Jews  a  parable; 
a  parable  evidently  meant  to  instruct  and  teach  them — the 
parable  of  the  fig-tree.  A  tree  represents  man  in  his  per- 
sonal, social,  or  national  state  ;  fruit  is  the  representation 
or  symbol  of  good  works — not  benevolence,  which  means 
wishing  well,  but  beneficence,  which  means'  doing  well. 
He  showed  that  this  tree  was  planted — for  what  purpose  ? 
to  produce  fruit.  Does  not  that  teach  us  another  lesson  ? 
What  is  the  best  fig-tree  ?  the  tree  that  produces  the  best 
and  choicest  figs.  What  is  the  best  church  ?  the  church 
that  cleaves  most  closely  to  Christ,  and  does  Christ's  work 
most  effectually.  And  if  men  would  apply  common  sense 
to  God's  word,  in  determining  some  of  those  great  contro- 
verted ecclesiastical  disputes  of  the  day,  they  would  come 
more  speedily  and  delightfully  to  a  conclusion.  And  who 
is  the  best  Christian  ?  Not  he  that  wears  the  most  sombre 
face,  or  that  pronounces  the  Shibboleth  of  the  sect  with 
the  greatest  elegance,  but  he  that  brings  forth  the  most 
good  fruit.  He  is  the  best  that  does  the  best;  and  wher- 
ever there  is  Christianity  in  the  heart,  there  will  be  sun- 
shine in  the  countenance,  and  holiness  in  the  life.  Our 
Lord  says,  that  the  husbandman  came  seeking  fruit  from 
the  tree,  which  was  the  end  of  its  planting.  He  was  dis- 
appointed; he  found  none;  then  he  said,  "Cut  it  down." 
What  was  the  fault  of  this  tree  ?  It  is  not  said  that  he 
found  bad  fruit,  the  apples  of  Sodom,  but  that  he  found 
no  fruit.  In  this  lies  a  very  important  lesson.  Many  men 
are  quite  satisfied  with  doing  no  harm ;  and  if  one  speak 
a  word  strongly  to  them,  they  will  say,  "  I  do  no  harm  to 
anybody."  That  is  just  their  biography.  But  the  judg- 
ment pronounced  on  the  fig-tree  was  not  because  it  did 
harm,  but  because  it  did  no  good  ;  and  therefore,  in  the 
sight  of  God,  to  pass  through  the  world  a  thorough  blank, 
is  next  in  guilt  to  passing  through  the  world  a  disgraceful 


THE  END  OF  THE  YEAR  1848.          317 

blot.  If  we  are  afraid  of  being  blots,  let  us  also  be  afraid 
of  being  blanks.  Let  it  be  recorded  in  the  world's  bio- 
graphy, that  it  has  been  better  for  one  man,  at  least,  that 
has  passed  through  it.  Let  it  be  felt  by  some  one  behind 
us,  that  we  lived  for  something  in  the  world ;  that  we  were 
not  satisfied  to  monopolize  all  the  sunshine  and  dew-drops 
of  the  skies,  that  is,  all  the  blessings  and  privileges  of  the 
gospel,  and  to  wrap  round  us  the  mantle  of  salvation,  and 
be  satisfied  that  we  ourselves  were  safe,  and  did  no  harm  ; 
but  let  us  feel  the  responsibilities  of  the  servant ;  let  us 
feel  that  we  are  made  Christians,  not  for  ourselves,  for 
that  is  a  low  and  miserable  view,  but  for  the  good  of  men 
and  for  the  glory  of  God  ;  and  it  will  ever  be  found,  that 
where  Christianity  is  lodged  deepest  in  the  human  heart, 
there  philanthropy  and  beneficence  will  develop  themselves 
with  the  greatest  splendour  in  the  human  life.  The  in- 
tercessory petition  Avas  lifted  up,  "  Let  it  alone  this  year 
also."  These  are  the  words  on  which  I  will  comment  in 
this  lecture,  having  already  explained  the  rest  of  the  pa- 
rable ;  I  view  it  now,  standing  all  of  us  by  the  death-bed 
of  a  departing  year,  and  nearly  at  the  cradle  of  a  coming 
year,  and  if  there  be  one  petition  that  becomes  us  more 
suitable  than  another,  it  is  what  the  old  Covenanters 
prayed  upon  the  field  of  Drumclog — a  party  with  which  I 
have  no  sympathy  beyond  what  is  due  to  the  piety  of  the 
men  that  were  in  it — "  Lord,  spare  the  green — take  the 
ripe."  This  is  the  prayer  that  becomes  us.  If  we  are 
ripe  for  glory,  then  we  need  not  pray,  "let  it  alone  this 
year;"  if  we  are  unripe  for  glory — dead  in  sins,  then  the 
prayer  that  becomes  us  is,  "  let  every  such  barren  tree — 
every  such  unproductive  tree — every  such  dead  tree — alone 
for  another  year.  Give  it  another  chance,  another  oppor- 
tunity ;  leave  it  a  little  longer  beneath  prayers  and  praise, 
and  reading  and  preaching ;  and  then,  if  it  bring  forth  no 

2 1  *•* 


318  FORESHADOWS. 

fruit,  cut  it  down."  The  words  "another  year"  remind 
us  of  the  divisions  of  time.  I  think  it  most  important 
that  time  is  divided  just  as  it  is ;  the  earth  and  the  sky 
seem  to  meet  as  great  phenomena ;  whether  we  like  it  or 
not,  they  divide  time  into  spaces.  We  have  years  which 
we  cannot* help  seeing,  months  which  we  cannot  help 
noticing,  days  which  we  cannot  help  counting.  The  au- 
tumn regularly  puts  out  the  year,  the  twilight  regularly 
quenches  the  day;  and,  whether  man  like  it  or  not,  he 
must  feel  that  time  is  passing  away,  just  by  the  marks, 
as  it  were,  that  stand  upon  the  margin  of  the  stream  and 
prove  to  him  that  it  sweeps  past.  This  day  then  re- 
minds us  that  one  year  has  passed  away,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  hours,  and  that  another  year  is  about  to 
begin.  Let  us  look  at  it :  let  us  take  a  retrospect  of  the 
past.  In  all,  that  year  has  produced  change.  It  has  made 
less  bounding  hearts  to  some,  and  more  gray  hairs  to  others. 
Not  a  year  passes  that  leaves  not  fresh  snow  upon  our 
heads,  and  weightier  responsibilities  upon  our  hearts.  To 
some  the  year  that  is  passed  has  been  a  year,  I  am  sure, 
of  affliction.  Has  that  affliction  been  sanctified  ?  This  is 
the  great  inquiry.  Has  it  been  sanctified,  has  it  loosened 
the  affections  from  things  that  perish  in  the  using,  and 
lifted  those  affections  to  glorious  things  that  endure  for 
ever  ?  Have  the  furrows  of  the  soil  that  trials  have 
ploughed  received  into  their  bosom  the  good  seed,  that 
groweth  up,  and  beareth  in  some  thirty,  in  some  sixty,  and 
some  an  hundredfold.  There  are  two  kinds  of  affliction, 
just  as  there  are  two  kinds  of  storms.  There  is  the  winter 
storm,  and  there  is  the  summer  storm.  When  the  winter 
storm  comes,  we  know  that  it  has  passed  by  the  traces 
that  it  leaves  behind,  and  the  wreck  and  ruin  with  which 
it  strews  every  part.  But  when  the  summer  storm  passes, 
we  find  that  it  has  been  by  the  sun  looking  out  again 


THE   END   OF    THE   YEAR   1848.  319 

brighter  and  more  beautiful  than  before,  and  the  flowers 
and  trees,  as  if  they  had  enjoyed  a  bath,  restored  to  their 
fairest  and  pristine  loveliness.  So  is  it  with  affliction  ; 
those  that  are  sanctified,  leave  us  holier,  happier  than 
before.  It  acts  as  the  dew  that  falls  and  softens  the  soil, 
and  makes  it  fit  for  the  seed  to  be  cast  into  it.  Have  our 
afflictions  been  sanctified?  Can  we  say  this  day, 'if  we 
look  at  the  wrecks  that  they  have  left,  at  the  chasms  they 
have  made,  at  the  property  we  have  lost — it  was  bitter 
indeed,  but  within  I  find  peace  with  God,  and  I  can  say 
from  the  very  heart  that  my  affections,  which  were  begin- 
ning to  rpot  themselves  amid  things  that  die,  have  been, 
though  amid  much  pain,  lifted  up,  and  made  to  twine 
their  tendrils  around  a  real  and  everlasting  throne?  Then 
our  greatest  earthly  loss  has  been  our  greatest  heavenly 
gain,  and  "it  is  good  for  me  that  I  have  been  afflicted." 

To  some,  I  doubt  not,  the  past  year  has  been  a  year  of 
prosperity.  I  know  many  are  much  more  prone  to  lament 
over  their  calamities  than  to  acknowledge  and  praise  God 
for  their  prosperity.  But  there  are  some  upon  whom  the 
last  year  broke  in  sunshine,  and  shines  on  them  in  sunshine 
still.  It  came  in  music,  it  was  continued  in  music,  it  de- 
parts in  music — they  have  been  prospered  ;  but  recollect, 
that  the  most  difficult  cup  to  hold  is  a  full  cup,  and  that 
the  most  dangerous  pinnacle  on  which  man  can  stand  is 
the  loftiest.  The  lightnings  first  strike  the  mountains; 
and  the  highest  spires  are  most  exposed  to  the  storm. 
They  that  occupy  the  high  places  of  the  earth,  are  envied 
by  those  that  see  the  exterior  splendour,  but  not  by  those 
who  can  judge  of  the  peril,  the  pain,  the  anxieties,  the 
carking  cares  within.  If,  reader,  you  have  been  prospered 
during  the  past  year,  prospered  in  your  trade,  prospered 
in  your  connections,  prospered  in  your  elevation  in  the 
social  fabric,  let  me  ask  you,  has  it  made  you  proud  ?  has 


320  FORESHADOWS. 

it  made  you  forget  God  ?  has  it  made  you,  like  the  prodi- 
gal, waste  the  goods  that  God  has  given  you?  or,  like  a 
miser,  hoard  the  good  that  God  has  given  you?  or,  like  a 
Christian,  consecrate  that  good  to  the  noblest  and  the 
most  beneficent  of  ends  ?  Examine  yourselves  ;  take  your 
retrospect  of  the  year  that  is  past,  and  ask  if  your  pros- 
perity has  been  sanctified  and  blessed  to  you  by  this 
blessed  resolution — "  It  was  the  light  of  God's  coun- 
tenance that  gave  it  all;  it  Avas  the  goodness  of  God  that, 
unmeritedly  on  my  part,  bestowed  it  all ;  to  the  glory  of 
God  I  consecrate  all." 

To  some  this  year  has  been  a  year  of  great  changes  and 
bereavements.  Few  years  pass  away  without  leaving  a 
greater  number  of  images  of  the  dead  crowded  into  the  niches 
of  memory,  and  fewer  of  the  faces  that  we  loved  gathering 
round  the  Christmas  fireside,  each  succeeding  year,  to 
thank  God  for  his  mercy,  and  to  hope  for  his  blessing  yet 
to  come.  There  are  few  homes  into  which  sickness  and 
death  are  not  entering  constantly.  I  cannot  address  many 
without  being  sure  that  there  are  some  here  to  whom  the 
past  has  been  a  year  that  has  swept  from  their  presence 
the  nearest,  the  dearest,  the  best  beloved;  and  the  few 
lights  that  remain  in  the  chambers  of  imagery  within,  only 
enable  us  to  read  the  epitaphs  upon  the  tombs  of  those  that 
are  gone.  What  effect  has  this  had  upon  you  ?  Has  it 
made  you  feel  that  your  ties  multiply  beyond  the  skies  as 
the  ties  become  fewer  that  bind  you  to  earth  ?  Has  it 
made  you  feel  that  here  we  have  no  continuing  city,  nor 
fixed  place  of  abode?  Has  it  made  you  realize,  as  you 
never  realized  before,  the  great  apostolic  announcement, 
"the  time  is  short;"  "it  remains  that  they  that  have  wives 
be  as  though  they  had  none ;  they  that  weep,  as  though 
they  wept  not ;  they  that  rejoice,  as  though  they  rejoiced 
not ;  they  that  use  the  world,  as  not  abusing  it,  for  the 


THE  END  OF  THE  YEAR  1848.         321 

fashion  of  the  world  passeth  away."  If  so,  the  year  has 
been  to  you  a  happy  one,  and  you  can  bless  God  for  it, 
and  feel  that  it  is  good  for  you  that  you  suffered. 

To  all  of  us,  whatever  we  be,  whether  our  personal  and 
our  domestic  state  has  been  a  scene  of  gladness  or  a  scene 
of  weeping,  the  year  that  has  passed  away  has  been  a 
startling  one.  We  scarcely  rose  from  reading  the  tidings 
of  one  crash,  when  there  mingled  with  its  echoes  the  foot- 
fall of  another.  We  could  scarcely  open  the  papers  of  the 
day  without  hearing  of  changes,  disasters,  catastrophes, 
in  comparison  of  which  all  that  had  preceded  in  our  ex- 
perience seemed  but  child's  play.  Have  these  startling 
phenomena  made  us  feel,  as  we  never  felt  before,  that  the 
kingdoms  of  this  world  are  kingdoms  that  can  be  moved? 
Have  the  tidings  of  paralyzed  kings  falling  from  their 
thrones,  and  bewildered  popes  rushing  from  their  palaces, 
made  us  look  beyond  the  skies,  and  recollect  the  truth 
that  infants  know,  and  angels  glory  in,  that  there  is  a 
King,  whose  throne  revolutions  cannot  shake,  and  whose 
empire  never  can  be  broken?  Have  these  great  changes, 
these  startling  sounds  of  dissolving  kingdoms  and  falling 
thrones,  made  us  remember  that  there  is  a  kingdom  that 
cannot  be  moved ;  and  that  if  we  seek  first  this  kingdom 
and  its  righteousness,  all  other  things  will  be  added  unto 
us  ?  Have  the  events  of  the  past  year  been  consecrated 
missionaries  from  the  skies  preaching  to  us,  "Prepare  to 
meet  thy  God,  0  Israel?"  Have  its  thundering  ava- 
lanches, as  they  passed  by — have  its  terrible  revolutions, 
as  they  whirled  round  us — made  us  feel  what  the  sword  has 
traced  in  blood  on  every  acre  of  broad  Europe,  "  This  is 
not  our  rest,"  but  what  the  Bible  has  written  in  illuminated 
letters  of  light  and  love,  "  There  remaineth  a  rest  for  the 
people  of  God?"  If  so,  the  year  has  not  been  in  vain 
for  us. 


322  FORESHADOWS. 

To  the  people  of  God  there  is  much  instruction  in  the 
retrospect  of  the  past  year.  There  are  but  two  classes 
among  mankind.  Men  speak  of  Churchmen  and  Dis- 
senters, and  Episcopalians  and  Presbyterians — they  speak 
of  rich  and  poor,  of  noble  and  mean  ;  but  there  are  really 
but  two  classes — classes  which  have  continued  their  suc- 
cession from  Adam's  days  to  the  present  hour — the  suc- 
cession of  sinners  by  nature,  and  the  succession  of  saints 
by  grace.  To  one  of  these  two  classes  every  man  and 
every  woman  in  this  assembly  belongs.  I  speak  now  to 
those  that  belong  to  the  last — the  succession  of  saints  by 
grace.  1848  has  borne  you,  people  of  the  Lord,  so  much 
nearer  to  your  happy  and  everlasting  home.  It  has  carried 
you  through  another  great  stage  of  your  pilgrimage  below ; 
and  to  some  of  you,  as  1848  has  been  a  chariot  of  grace, 
1849  may  prove  a  chariot  of  glory.  You  can  raise  there- 
fore, on  this  the  last  day  of  the  dying  year,  your  Ebenezer, 
and  say,  "Hitherto  the  Lord  hath  helped  me ;"  and  you 
can  look  into  the  dim  and  the  unsounded  depths  of  the 
coming  year,  and  feel  that  there  also  God  will  bless  you. 

Again,  this  past  year,  to  you,  people  of  God,  must  have 
attested  the  faithfulness  of  God.  Can  you  put  your  finger 
upon  one  promise  that  has  failed  ?  have  you  trusted  on 
one  attribute  of  Deity  that  has  disappointed  you  ?  are  you 
dissatisfied  with  any  thing  in  the  word  of  God,  or  in  the 
lessons  of  the  gospel  ?  On  the  contrary,  has  not  the  great 
truth,  "the  Lord  reigneth,"  been  sent  forth  by  every  tem- 
pest? has  it  not  been  borne  upon  every  blow?  has  it  not 
spoken  to  you  from  above,  from  beneath,  from  east,  and 
west,  and  north,  and  south  ?  and  is  it  not,  in  your  mind, 
one  of  the  axioms  of  your  creed,  as  fixed  as  the  poles  of 
the  universe,  that  God  reigns,  and  controls  all  by  his  in- 
finite power,  and  spares  all  by  his  ceaseless  beneficence  ? 
During  the  past  year,  I  trust,  Christian  brethren,  you 


THE   END   OF   THE   YEAH   1848.  323 

have  had  increased  experience  of  the  truth,  the  excellence, 
the  preciousness  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus.  Are  you  not  now 
more  able  to  say,  at  the  close  of  this  year,  than  at  its  com- 
mencement, "I  am  not  ashamed  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus." 
There  is  much  in  all  the  world's  greatest  things  to  be 
ashamed  of.  Kings  may  be  ashamed  of  their  crowns, 
nations  of  their  constitutions,  and  statesmen  of  their 
schemes  ;  but  a  Christian,  instead  of  having  more  reason, 
has  less  reason  than  ever,  this  day,  to  be  ashamed  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ.  Have  you  not  found  God's  word  re- 
main true ;  God's  promises,  yea  and  amen ;  God's  faith- 
fulness the  same  yesterday,  to-day,  and  for  ever?  And 
are  you  not  persuaded  that  Christianity  is  absolute  truth, 
that  the  knowledge  of  it  is  perfect  peace,  and  that  the 
hopes  of  it  are  an  assured  crown  of  glory  that  fadeth  not 
away ! 

But  I  shall  be  able  the  better  to  compress  my  remarks, 
by  first  looking  to  the  year  that  is  past,  and  then  to  the 
year  that  is  to  come :  standing  as  it  were  on  the  little 
isthmus  that  remains  between  them.  In  the  retrospect  of 
1848,  the  year  that  is  past,  gratitude  is  what  becomes  us; 
and  in  the  prospect  of  1849,  the  year  that  is  to  come,  if 
we  are  spared  to  see  it,  confidence,  courage,  hope,  are  what 
become  us. 

In  looking  at  the  past,  gratitude  well  becomes  us.  And, 
first,  we  should  be  filled  with  thankfulness  and  gratitude 
to  God,  when  we  think  of  ourselves  this  day.  Some 
stronger  than  we  have  been  cut  down  in  their  meridian, 
like  flowers,  that  no  sooner  bloom  than  fade.  Disease, 
sickness,  accident  has  swept  away  many  that  were  our 
friends  and  our  companions,  and  with  whom  we  took  sweet 
counsel  together  as  we  went  to  the  house  of  God,  and  the 
lengthening  roll  of  widows  and  orphans  is  longer  at  the 
close  of  the  year  than  it  was  at  its  commencement.  This 


324  FORESHADOWS. 

day  we  are  spared  in  health,  in  strength,  in  hope,  in  peace, 
amid  privileges  and  blessings.  God  has  kept  our  feet  from 
falling,  our  eyes  from  tears,  and  our  souls  from  death. 
And  surely  a  year  of  personal  preservation  and  personal 
mercies  demands  that  we  should  bless  the  Lord. 

But  let  us  take  a  retrospect,  not  only  of  our  personal, 
but  also  of  our  domestic  mercies.  True  it  is,  there  is  not 
a  home,  from  the  equator  to  the  pole,  that  has  not  clouds 
passing  over  it;  there  is  no  Christmas  song  that  has  not  a 
melancholy  minor  running  through  it ;  there  is  no  fireside 
so  bright  and  so  beautiful,  that  a  shadow  does  not  occa- 
sionally flit  across  it.  Perhaps  it  is  well  that  it  is  so ;  per- 
haps it  is  in  mercy  that  it  is  so.  I  do  not  believe  that  we 
could  live  in  perpetual  sunshine ;  we  need  shadow ;  per- 
petual sunshine  would  destroy  us  ;  the  intermingling  shade 
comes  like  a  refreshment  from  the  fountain  of  health,  to 
revive,  and  restore,  and  sustain  us.  But  let  us  compare 
the  mercies  of  our  home — the  coldest  that  is  with  the 
homes  that  are  around  us.  Compare  the  blessings  that 
you  have,  with  the  judgments  that  your  unworthiness  has 
provoked.  Take  a  glance  across  the  waste  of  waters,  and 
compare  English  homes  with  the  cold,  desolated  homes 
that  contain  so  many  bleeding  hearts,  in  Paris,  in  Vienna, 
and  Berlin  ;  and  then  see  if  every  father  is  not  bound  to 
become  a  priest,  and  that  priest  to  do  his  priestly  office, 
by  seizing  the  censer  and  lifting  up  the  incense,  "Praise 
the  Lord,  0  my  soul,  and  all  that  is  within  me,  praise  and 
bless  his  holy  name." 

In  taking  a  retrospect  of  this  year,  however,  that  is  now 
closing,  we  may  look  at  it  not  only  personally,  domes- 
tically, but  also  nationally.  And  have  we  no  mercies  to 
recapitulate  here  ?  The  retrospect  of  our  national  history 
in  1848  should  electrify  every  enlightened  mind  and  right 
heart  in  this  congregation.  Almost  every  nation  around 


THE   END   OF   THE   YEAR   1848.  325 

us  has  rocked  and  been  convulsed  by  the  vibrations  of  suc- 
cessive earthquakes.  In  Paris,  Vienna,  and  Berlin,  the 
streets  have  been  stained  with  the  blood  of  slaughtered 
citizens,  and  an  awful  spirit  seemed  to  have  risen  from 
beneath  and  entered  men's  hearts,  that  made  citizens  feel 
and  call  it  glory  when  they  murdered  their  fellow-citizens. 
But  it  has  not  been  so  with  us.  Our  country,  while  all 
was  eclipse  around,  has  basked  in  the  sunshine  ;  our  queen 
reigns  in  the  royal  affections  of  her  people ;  our  throne 
remains  like  an  Alp  or  an  Apennine,  with  nothing  but  the 
Rock  of  ages  beneath  it;  and  our  Sabbaths  still  retain 
their  sacredness ;  our  sanctuaries  still  retain  their  quiet. 
While  the  nations  around  us  were  sounding  funeral  dirges 
over  national  and  individual  calamities,  one  of  the  greatest 
Missionary  Societies  of  the  kingdom  was  meeting,  with 
donations  from  the  queen,  as  expressive  of  her  sympathy 
with  evangelical  religion,  to  sing  their  Jubilee,  and  com- 
memorate God's  mercies  in  the  past.  And  our  country  is 
the  only  asylum  for  refugee  kings  and  princes  of  the  earth ; 
and  why?  it  is  the  only  one  that  can  afford  to  be  so.  Other 
countries  would  feel  that  it  was  an  explosive  element  coming 
within  them,  to  rend  their  artificial  fabrics.  Why  is  this  ? 
Because  liberty,  light,  and  love  .prevail  in  the  midst  of  us ; 
and  I  am  sure  the  reader  will  concur  with  me,  when  I  say, 
notwithstanding  all  its  sins  and  imperfections,  I  still  love 
this  old  country  of  ours.  I  do  not  see  that  a  Christian 
ceases  to  be  a  patriot.  I  would  pull  down  not  one  rafter, 
or  stone,  or  timber  in  the  midst  of  it ;  I  would  purify  all, 
I  would  reform  all,  I  would  cleanse  all,  but  I  would  pull 
down  nothing  but  sin,  and  the  devil,  and  Popery ;  and  if 
these  are  pulled  down,  and  true,  living  religion  prevail  and 
predominate  in  the  midst  of  us,  our  land  will  be  in  1852 
what  it  has  been  in  1848.  What  has  made  it  so?  Never 
forget  this,  it  is  the  living  Christianity  of  its  people.  And 

II.    SER.  28 


326  FORESHADOWS. 

oh  !  I  do  pray  that  evangelical  and  vital  religion  may  more 
and  more  surround  us,  reaching  to  the  highest,  descending 
to  the  lowest,  embracing  all.  I  pray  that  it  may  sustain 
the  throne,  and  guide  the  whole  tone  of  our  national,  our 
social,  our  domestic,  and  our  personal  feelings;  and  then, 
if  we  are  a  religious  people,  depend  upon  it  that  neither 
the  mob  in  the  ayopa,  nor  the  autocrat  upon  his  throne,  nor 
sedition's  trumpet,  nor  the  tyrant's  rod,  nor  any  other 
enchantment,  shall  prevail  against  Jacob,  or  any  divination 
against  Israel.  Righteousness  exalteth  a  nation ;  sin  is 
the  ruin  of  any  people.  Nor  should  I  commemorate 
fully -the  mercies  of  the  past  year,  if  I  did  not  think  of  our 
national  mercies.  Read  the  Old  Testament,  and  see  how 
much  of  the  Jews'  nation  was  in  the  Jews'  religion,  and 
how  much  of  the  Jews'  religion  in  the  Jews'  nation. 

Let  us  feel  thankful  then  for  our  personal,  thankful  for 
our  domestic,  thankful  for  our  congregational,  thankful  for 
our  national  mercies ;  and  if  we  are  not  thankful,  depend 
upon  it  that  we  shall  not  long  enjoy  them.  I  believe  there 
is  a  great  sin  prevalent  among  many  true  Christians ;  they 
are  eloquent  in  asking  for  mercies,  they  are  dumb  in  prais- 
ing God  for  them  when  they  have  obtained  them.  Now, 
I  believe  that  he  will  not  be  long  a  possessor  of  great  pri- 
vileges who  is  an  unthankful  possessor  of  them.  Our 
suffering  should  make  us  humble,  our  mercies  should  make 
us  thankful,  and  both  should  lead  us  to  God. 

I  have  thus  taken  a  retrospect  of  the  past  year ;  let  me 
now  take,  if  possible,  a  prospect  of  the  year  to  come. 
What  becomes  us  in  the  prospect  of  it  ?  Confidence  in  God, 
courage,  bright  hopes  ;  and  for  these  very  simple  reasons : 
The  sailor  feels  confidence  in  the  ship  that  has  borne  him 
oftenest  across  the  billows :  our  religion,  our  Bible,  our 
Christianity,  are  tried  to  us,  tried  in  every  storm,  and 
stress,  and-  pressure,  and  we  have  confidence  in  them ;  and 


THE   END   OF   THE   YEAR   1848.  327 

I  believe  that  confidence  and  courage  and  hope  become  us 
on  this  ground,  if  there  were  no  other,  that  the  God  of 
1848  (just  recollect  this)  will  also  be  the  God  of  1852.  It 
is  not  an  idol  that  may  be  swept  away  from  his  niche  that 
we  worship,  but  the  living  God,  who  is  the  same  to-day 
that  he  was  yesterday,  and  will  be  in  the  accumulating 
cycles  of  eternity.  In  future  years  afflictions  will  come  : 
I  should  be  disguising  truth,  if  I  did  not  state  it :  but 
manfully  meet  them,  and  in  God's  strength  triumph  over 
them.  Doubts  will  arise ;  but  what  is  divine  strength 
given  us  for,  but  to  discharge  the  duty  that  devolves  upon 
us,  in  the  strength  of  Him  that  commanded  it.  Regard 
God's  goodness  in  the  past  as  an  augury  of  his  goodness 
in  the  future.  This  is  not  what  we  are  prone  to  do.  It 
is  not  what  I  am  often  prone  to  do.  We  are  very  apt  to 
look  into  the  future,  and  imagine  troubles  and  afflictions 
that  may  never  come.  .  Now,  let  us  cease  to  do  so.  Let 
us  cease  to  cast  imagination  like  a  dragnet  into  the  sea 
of  the  future,  and  gather  into  our  bosom  all  sorts  of  ve- 
nomous reptiles,  that  may  sting  us  to  the  quick,  and  ex- 
haust us  of  our  very  lifeblood.  «  Sufficient  for  the  day  is 
the  evil  thereof."  "Take  no  thought,"  i.  e.  no  iJ.sptjj.ya,  no 
perplexing,  anxious  thought,  "for  the  morrow,  but-let  the 
morrow  take  thought  for  the  things  of  itself."  He  who 
has  been  with  you  in  the  past,  will  be  with  you  in  the 
future.  Be  thankful  for  the  clear  bright  stream  while  it 
runs:  do  not  be  always  diving  to  the  bottom  to  see  what 
is  there,  and  troubling  the  stream  with  mud.  Be  satisfied 
to  sail  upon  the  bright  current  while  it  lasts,  thankful  for 
the  present,  praising  for  the  past,  and  hoping  for  the 
future.  Half  our  complaints  are  about  what  is  not  evil, 
and  the  other  half  are  about  evils  that  may  not  come. 
Let  us  never  forget  that  all  things  are  in  the  hands  of 
God.  Let  us  remember  that  God  will  not  send  us  too  few, 


328  FORESHADOWS. 

too  light,  too  short  afflictions,  as  our  carnal  hearts  would 
desire ;  neither  will  he  send  us  too  many,  too  heavy,  too 
long  afflictions,  as  Satan  would  suggest ;  but  He  will  send 
us  what  is  truly  expedient  for  us :  his  omniscience  will 
see  all,  his  wisdom  will  direct  all,  his  great  love  will  in- 
spire all;  and  thus  believing,  trusting,  and  hoping,  we 
would  look  into  next  year,  and  thank  God  for  the  past, 
and  take  courage  when  we  gaze  into  the  future. 

But  there  are  those  in  every  place,  who  are  not  the 
people  of  God,  whose  hearts  are  not  changed,  who  are 
still  in  their  sins.  The  past  year  was  given  to  you  to  pre- 
pare for  God.  It  has  passed  away  just  as  it  began ;  you 
began  it  without  religion,  you  have  closed  it  without  reli- 
gion. Your  responsibilities  are  increased,  your  privileges 
are  continued,  your  progress  is  nothing  at  all.  But  re- 
collect, that  if  you  have  not  made  progress  in  religion,  you 
have  not  been  stationary.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  stand- 
ing still  in  the  whole  universe  of  God.  Every  thing  is  in 
action ;  every  thing  is  in  movement ;  and  if  a  man's  heart 
is  not  loosening  from  the  world,  spiritualized,  sanctified,  by 
the  constant  action  of  a  preached  gospel,  by  the  blessing 
of  the  Spirit,  that  man's  heart  is  hardened,  his  sensibilities 
become  deader,  his  sensibility  of  impression  becomes  less. 
The  man  who  has  braved  the  appeals  of  Christianity  last 
year,  will  brave  them  still  more  easily  in  the  next.  So 
then,  while  you  have  not  made  progress  in  the  gospel,  you 
have  not  been  stationary,  you  have  been  retrograding ;  and 
last  year  has  gone  like  a  messenger  to  the  skies,  depositing 
there  its  record  of  what  you  were,  what  it  found  you,  and 
what  it  has  left  you.  Let  me  beg  you  to  recollect  this 
day  this  truth,  in  the  retrospect  of  the  past,  "  The  blood 
of  Jesus  Christ  cleanscth  from  all  sin;"  and  let  me  impress 
upon  you  this  day  for  the  year  that  is  to  come,  "  Seek  first 
the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  and  all  other 


THE   END   OF   THE   YEAR   1848.  329 

things  shall  be  added  unto  you."  I  need  not  tell  you  that, 
speaking  after  the  manner  of  men,  the  probability  that  you 
will  die  next  year  is  much  greater  than  it  was  that  you 
would  die  previously.  Suppose  a  pebble  is  laid  in  one  of 
a  hundred  holes ;  and  suppose  that  you  have  searched  fifty, 
and  have  not  found  it;  the  probability  is  vastly  increased 
that  you  will  find  it  in  the  next ;  and  if  you  fail  to  find  it 
there,  greater  still  that  you  Avill  find  it  in  the  next.  Again, 
some  of  you  have  seen  ten,  twenty,  thirty,  forty  years; 
few  only  now  remain.  The  probability  is  therefore  vastly 
increased,  that  next  year  that  stroke  may  come  which  lays 
the  .body  in  the  tomb,  and  wafts  the  soul  to  the  judgment- 
seat.  I  ask  you,  are  you  prepared  for  that  day?  Realize 
this  great  fact,  that  each  soul  on  earth  will  glow  for  ever 
with  the  glory  of  heaven,  or  burn  for  ever  in  the  misery 
of  hell !  Do  we  feel  this  solemn  fact,  that  the  soul  of  every 
man  is  a  bud  that  will  unfold  itself  in  perpetual  blessedness 
or  in  perpetual  wo  ?  that  it  is  a  spark  from  heaven,  that 
shall  burn  with  celestial  splendour,  or  blaze  with  the  flames 
of  a  fire  that  is  not  quenched  for  ever  and  ever?  And  then 
from  thunder,  and  voices,  and  tempest,  from  revolution  and 
a  great  earthquake,  from  affliction  and  prosperity,  from  all  • 
points  of  the  compass — ten  thousand  voices  shout,  what  I 
pray  God  may  imprint  upon  all  our  hearts,  "What  shall  it 
profit  a  man  if  he  gain" — what  is  very  problematic — "if 
he  gain  the  whole  world,  and" — what  is  very  certain — 
"lose  his  oWn  soul?"  Many  have  an  idea  that  seventy 
years  is  the  period  of  man's  life.  What  a  great  mistake 
is  this !  It  has  been  calculated  that  the  average  number 
of  years  given  to  every  man  for  active  exertion,  are  twenty 
years.  Some  twenty  years  you  spend  in  childhood,  boy- 
hood, and  preparation;  the  great  majority  are  cut  off  be- 
fore fifty  years ;  and  if  you  live  to  that  age  you  have  only 
had  about  twenty  years  for  positive,  active  exertion.  A 

28* 


330  FORESHADOWS. 

year  therefore  in  a  man's  biography  is  a  very  large  portion 
of  it  indeed,  and  the  departure  of  one  portion  so  large, 
and  the  advent  of  another  portion  which  will  be  still  more 
momentous,  should  solemnize  every  one  that  knows  these 
things,  and  lead  him  in  prayer  to  that  throne  of  grace,  from 
•which  alone  saving  and  sanctifying  influence  can  come.  I 
know  that  we  calculate  in  this  way,  that  we  have  a  stock 
of  life.  Men  are  so  accustomed  in  this  great  commercial 
city  to  calculations  and  commercial  arrangements,  that  they 
apply  to  things  to  which  they  are  totally  inapplicable,  the 
principles  of  their  commerce.  A  young  man  will  tell  you, 
«I  have  a  stock  of  life."  You  can  lay  up  as  much  money 
as  will  last  you  for  a  year ;  but  you  cannot  lay  up  so  much 
life.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  stock  of  life.  It  is, 
"  Give  us  each  day  the  daily  supply."  God  gives  to  a  man 
life  for  to-day,  but  not  one  particle  of  life  for  to-morrow. 
It  rests  with  the  sovereignty  of  God.  There  is  no  such 
thing,  therefore,  as  a  capital  or  stock  of  life.  And  thus 
does  the  Holy  Spirit  say,  "  Go  to  now,  ye  that  say,  To- 
morrow we  will  go  into  such  a  city,  and  continue  there  a 
year,  and  buy  and  sell,  and  get  gain.  "Whereas  ye  know 
*not  what  shall  be  on  the  morrow."  1852  may  probably 
summon  some  in  this  assembly,  as  1848  has  done,  to  the 
judgment-seat  of  Christ.  I  ask  you,  are  you  realizing  it? 
are  you  feeling  this  ?  How  does  it  stand  with  you  this 
day?  Shall  1852  be  treated  like  its  predecessors?  Shall 
you  be  rich,  and  increased  in  goods,  and  poor  ffcward  God  ? 
Shall  the  kingdom  of  God  be  the  secondary  thing,  and  the 
kingdom  of  this  world  the  great,  the  absorbing  object  of 
your  life  ?  Fix  your  heart  upon  spiritual  things  first,  and 
you  will  find,  that  instead  of  expending  upon  them  energy 
that  you  might  employ  upon  temporal  things,  you  will  have 
more  energy  for  the  temporal  when  you  have  first  made 
sure  of  the  eternal.  True  religion  is  not  asceticism :  God 


THE  END  OF  THE  YEAR  1848.          331 

does  not  desire  that  his  creatures  should  be  unhappy.  On 
the  contrary,  God  delights  to  see  his  people  happy.  Hap- 
piness is  as  much  the  fruit  of  the  gospel  as  holiness ;  and 
I  am  certain  that  no  young  man  will  so  faithfully  discharge 
the  duties  of  his  office,  and  no  old  man  so  well  meet  the 
difficulties  that  surround  him,  as  he  will  whose  heart  and 
treasure  are  beyond  the  skies,  whose  faith  is  in  the  Lamb 
of  God,  and  whose  life  is  the  life  of  Christ  in  his  heart. 

"The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sins." 
There  is  not  one  soul  that  reads  this  that  need  not  at  this 
moment  realize  it.  There  is  not  one  sin  in  one  sinner's 
biography  from  which  it  will  not  cleanse.  Have  recourse 
to  it.  Let  the  prayer  arise  from  each  heart,  "Lamb  of 
God,  that  takest  away  the  sins  of  the  world,"  take  away 
mine.  Holy  Spirit  who  givest  a  new  heart,  give  me  a  new 
heart.  Teach  me  to  do  thy  will,  and,  by  thy  grace,  if  past 
years  have  been  wasted,  future  shall  not.  If  I  have  for- 
gotten thee  in  the  past,  I  will  cleave  to  thee  in  the  future. 
Make  the  experiment.  Go  out  to  do  Caesar's  work  in 
Christ's  strength,  and  you  will  find  that  you  are  sufficient 
for  all  that  lies  before  you  in  the  world. 

These  words  were  addressed  to  my  people,  as  they  indi- 
cat*e,  at  the  close  of  1848.  What  a  year  of  trembling  and 
fear  of  heart  was  1849 !  What  a  startling  trumpet-voice 
was  uttered  forth  by  the  Romish  aggression  of  1850 !  What 
a  year  of  brilliancy,  I  hope  not  a  brilliancy  that  precedes 
decay,  has  1851  been !  The  year  1852  is  now  approaching 
as  a  strong  man  to  run  a  race.  Who  dares  conjecture,  as 
he  foresees  its  complicated  questions  and  parties,  especially 
abroad,  what  portentous  events  it  is  big  with?  This  how- 
ever is  our  peace — the  Lord  reigneth  in  1852. 


332 


LECTURE  XX. 


THE   LAST  RECKONING. 

For  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  as  a  man  travelling  into  a  far  country,  who  called 
his  own  servants,  and  delivered  unto  them  his  goods.  And  unto  one  he  gave 
five  talents,  to  another  two,  and  to  another  one ;  to  every  man  according  to 
his  several  ability ;  and  straightway  took  his  journey.  Then  he  that  had 
received  the  five  talents  went  and  traded  with  the  same,  and  made  them  other 
five  talents.  And  likewise  he  that  had  received  two,  he  also  gained  other  two. 
But  he  that  had  received  one  went  and  digged  in  the  earth  and  hid  his  lord's 
money.  After  a  long  time  the  lord  of  those  servants  cometh,  and  reckonet.h 
with  them.  And  so  he  that  had  received  five  talents  came  and  brought  other 
five  talents,  saying,  Lord,  thou  deliveredst  unto  me  five  talents :  behold,  I  have 
gained  beside  them  five  talents  more.  His  lord  said  unto  him,  Well  done,  thou 
good  and  faithful  servant :  thou  hast  been  faithful  over  a  few  things,  I  will 
make  thoe  ruler  over  many  things  :  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy  lord.  He  also 
that  had  received  two  talents  came  and  said,  Lord,  thou  deliveredst  unto  me 
two  talents  :  behold,  I  have  gained  two  other  talents  beside  them.  His  lord 
said  unto  him,  Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant;  thou  hast  been  faithful 
over  a  few  things,  I  will  make  thee  ruler  over  many  things :  enter  thou  into  the 
joy  of  thy  lord.  Then  he  which  had  received  the  one  talent  came  and  said, 
Lord,  I  knew  thee  that  thou  art  an  hard  man,  reaping  where  thou  hastj  not 
sown,  and  gathering  where  thou  hast  not  strawed :  and  I  was  afraid,  and 
went  and  hid  thy  talent  in  the  earth  :  lo,  there  thou  hast  that  is  thine.  His 
lord  answered  and  said  unto  him,  Thou  wicked  and  slothful  servant,  thou 
knewest  that  I  reap  where  I  sowed  not,  and  gather  where  I  have  not  strawed: 
thou  oughtest  therefore  to  have  put  my  money  to  the  exchangers,  and  then  at 
my  coming  I  should  have  received  mine  own  with  usury.  Take  therefore 
the  talent  from  him,  and  give  it  unto  him  which  hath  ten  talents.  For  unto 
every  one  that  hath  shall  be  given,  and  he  shall  have  abundance :  but  from 
him  that  hath  not  shall  be  taken  away  even  that  which  he  hath.  And  cast 
ye  the  unprofitable  servant  into  outer  darkness :  there  shall  be  weeping  and 
gnashing  of  teeth. — MATT.  xxv.  14r-30. 

THEKE  is  a  somewhat  analogous  parable  in  Luke  xix.  11 
-27;  '"And  as  they  heard  these  things,  he  added  and 
spake  a  parable,  because  he  was  nigh  to  Jerusalem,  and 


THE   LAST  RECKONING.  333 

because  they  thought  that  the  kingdom  of  God  should 
immediately  appear.  He  said  therefore,  A  certain  noble- 
man went  into  a  far  country  to  receive  for  himself  a  king- 
dom, and  to  return.  And  he  called  his  ten  servants,  and 
delivered  them  ten  pounds,  and  said  unto  them,  Occupy 
till  I  come.  But  his  citizens  hated  him,  and  sent  a  mes- 
sage after  him,  saying,  We  will  not  have  this  man  to  reign 
over  us.  And  it  came  to  pass,  that  when  he  was  returned, 
having  received  the  kingdom,  then  he  commanded  these 
servants  to  be  called  unto  him,  to  whom  he  had  given  the 
money,  that  he  might  know  how  much  every  man  had 
gained  by  trading.  Then  came  the  first,  saying,  Lord, 
thy  pound  hath  gained  ten  pounds.  And  he  said  unto 
him,  Well,  thou  good  servant:  because  thou  hast  been 
faithful  in  a\ery  little,  have  thou  authority  over  ten  cities. 
And  the  second  came,  saying,  Lord,  thy  pound  hath  gained 
five  pounds.  And  he  said  likewise  to  him,  Be  thou  also 
over  five  cities.  And  another  came,  saying,  Lord,  behold, 
here  is  thy  pound,  which  I  have  kept  laid  up  in  a  napkin : 
for  I  feared  thee,  because  thou  art  an  austere  man:  thou 
takest  up  that  thou  layedst  not  down,  and  reapest  that 
thou  didst  not  sow.  And  he  saith  unto  him,  Out  of  thine 
own  mouth  will  I  judge  thee  thou  wicked  servant.  Thou 
knewest  that  I  was  an  austere  man,  taking  up  that  I  laid 
not  down,  and  reaping  that  I  did  not  sow :  wherefore  then 
gavest  not  thou  my  money  into  the  bank,  that  at  my 
coming  I  might  have  required  mine  own  with  usury? 
And  he  said  unto  them  that  stood  by,  Take  from  him  the 
pound,  and  give  it  to  him  that  hath  ten  pounds.  (And 
they  said  unto  him,  Lord,  he  hath  ten  pounds.)  For  I  say 
unto  you,  That  unto  every  one  which  hath  shall  be  given ; 
'and  from  him  that  hath  not,  even  that  he  hath  shall  be 
taken  away  from  him.  But  those  mine  enemies,  which 
would  not  that  I  should  reign  over  them,  bring  hither, 


334  FORESHADOWS. 

and  slay  them  before  me."  And  yet  there  are  points  of 
difference,  arising  from  the  different  circumstances  under 
which  they  were  spoken,  and  the  varied  and  distinct 
auditors  to  which  they  were  respectively  addressed.  The 
parable  recorded  by  Luke  was  spoken  before  Christ's 
entrance  into  Jerusalem ;  that  recorded  in  St.  Matthew 
occurred  afterward,  and  was  spoken  as  he  was  seated  on 
the  Mount  of  Olives.  The  former  was  addressed  to  a 
mixed  multitude,  composed  of  all  sorts  and  conditions ; 
the  latter,  as  given  by  the  evangelist  Matthew,  was  spoken 
to  his  own  immediate  disciples,  and  has  therefore  all  the 
beautiful  peculiarities  that  might  be  expected  from  such 
and  so  confidential  an  address.  In  Luke's  we  are  informed 
that  not  then  was  the  kingdom  of  glory,  but  that  a  long 
interval  must  first  precede  its  advent,  duriffg  which  we 
are  not  to  fold  our  hands,  and  wait  and  wonder,  but 
engage  in  active,  ceaseless  Christian  duties ;  and  then, 
that  at  the  end  he  would  come  and  reward  the  faithful 
according  to  the  riches  of  his  grace,  and  destroy  those 
who  had  acted  inconsistently  with  their  responsibilities. 
We  are  not  therefore,  he  teaches,  to  suppose  his  death  at 
Jerusalem  was  the  defeat  of  the  great  end  that  he  had  in 
view;  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  step  in  its  further  develop- 
ment. The  parable  recorded  in  St.  Matthew  is  much  more 
simple  and  direct. 

In  ancient  times,  slaves  or  servants  were  frequently 
employed  by  their  master  as  artisans,  and  were  allowed  to 
carry  on  a  trade  upon  their  own  account,  the  master 
supplying  them  with  the  capital  they  required  for  their 
business,  and  they  giving  him,  either  the  profits,  or  the 
largest  share  of  the  profits  that  accrued. 

The  "man"  in  the  parable  is,  beyond  all  doubt, the  Son 
of  man  ;  a  name  that  appropriately  expresses  the  relation- 
ship of  Jesus  to  us,  and  our  relationship  to  him.  He  is 


THE  LAST  RECKONING.  335 

connected  with  us  by  all  the  ties,  the  bonds,  and  sympa- 
thies of  humanity.  He  redeems,  he  governs,  he  saves, 
and  glorifies  us  as  God ;  and  sympathizes  with  us  fellow 
man.  In  his  condition  upon  earth,  he  speaks  of  himself 
invariably  as  the  Son  of  man ;  in  his  glorious  state,  in  the 
true,  holy  place,  not  made  with  hands,  he  describes  him- 
self in  the  august  and  impressive  language,  "  I  am  Alpha 
and  Omega,  the  first  and  the  last,  the  beginning  and  the 
end." 

"  The  far  country"  here  referred  to  is  that  spoken  of 
by  Isaiah  the  prophet — "the  land  that  is  afar  off" — the 
Holy  Place,  from  which  sin  has  projected  us  to  an  almost 
infinite  distance,  a  chasm  being  created  between  us  and 
the  holy  place  where  God  reigns,  which  no  wings  that  man 
can  put  forth  can  enable  him  to  cross,  and  no  human  feet 
can  wade.  Had  not  Christ  come  from  it  to  us,  we  had 
never  known  the  way,  or  travelled  along  it  to  heaven. 
The  first  movement  was  made  on  his  part  toward  us,  and 
our  movement  is  wholly  responsive  to  his.  We  are  morally, 
rather  than  physically,  far  off.  So  far  off  are  we  from  its 
happiness,  and  holiness,  and  bliss,  that  neither  genius,  nor 
wealth,  nor  science,  nor  sail,  nor  wing,  can  ever  help  us  to 
draw  near  to  God,  and  reconstitute  ourselves  in  our  for- 
feited happiness  and  relationship.  But  we  may  be  brought 
so  near  by  grace,  that  the  humblest  child  in  the  ragged 
school,  or  the  greatest  of  sinners,  believing  and  repenting, 
may  touch  its  shores,  having  travelled  along  the  new  and 
living  way  thither. 

The  parable  informs  us  that  the  Son  of  man  delivered 
his  "goods"  to  his  servants.  There  are  two  classes  of 
goods — spiritual  and  natural — both  the  sovereign  gift  of 
God.  On  the  day  of  Pentecost  there  was  a  magnifi- 
cent and  visible  bestowal  of  rich  endowments  upon  the 
church  of  Christ.  Before  this,  the  state  of  the  apostles  is 


336  FORESHADOWS. 

delineated  in  John  xx.  22,  23,  where  their  wants  were 
filled :  "  When  he  had  said  this,  he  breathed  on  them,  and 
saith  unto  them,  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost  j  whose  soever 
sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them ;  and  whose 
soever  sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained."  Subsequent  to 
this,  iq.  Ephcsians  iv.  8-12,  "  Wherefore  he  saith,  When 
he  ascended  up  on  high,  he  led  captivity  captive,  and  gave 
gifts  unto  men.  (Now  that  he  ascended,  what,  is  it  but 
that  he  also  descended  first  into  the  lower  parts  of  the 
earth  ?  He  that  descended  is  the  same  also  that  ascended 
up  far  above  all  heavens,  that  he  might  fill  all  things.) 
And  he  gave  some,  apostles ;  and  some,  prophets ;  and 
some,  evangelists ;  and  some,  pastors  and  teachers ;  for  the 
perfecting  of  the  saints,  for  the  work  of  the  ministry,  for 
the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ."  Every  minister  of 
the  gospel  has  received  gifts  and  talents ;  every  Christian 
has  received  the  talent  of  speaking,  or  acting,  or  ruling, 
or  teaching.  None  are  absolutely  destitute ;  each  man 
has  something  which  by  nature  or  grace  he  may  turn 
to  good  account,  and  for  the  use,  or  abuse,  or  misuse  of 
which  he  is  answerable  to  God.  Natural  gifts  are  dis- 
tinctively from  God.  There  is  not  a  power,  nor  a  posses- 
sion, nor  a  privilege  that  we  enjoy,  that  is  not  a  talent ; 
and  there  is  not  a  talent,  minute  or  otherwise,  which 
may  not  be  sanctified  to  the  Master's  use,  and  de- 
voted to  his  glory.  There  is  no  one  talent  that  was  not 
originally  bestowed  by  him  as  a  free,  and  sovereign,  and 
unmerited  boon;  and  whatever  be  the  point  of  our  su- 
periority one  to  another,  that  which  makes  us  superior  is 
not  ours  absolutely:  it  is  a  sovereign  gift,  a  divine  steward- 
ship, a  trust,  and  therefore  an  element  of  responsibility. 
There  is  nothing  common  or  unclean  in  the  Christian  dis- 
pensation. If  the  offerer  be  a  Christian,  whatever  he  has 
will  be  a  meet  offering  to  God.  Is  your  talent  wealth?  It 


THE   LAST   RECKONING.  337 

is  an  element  of  power ;  it  may  be  hoarded,  and  so  become 
a  corroding  and  irritating  evil  within  you,  augmenting 
your  misery,  and  diminishing  your  happiness  every  day. 
Time  will  rust  it,  and  God  will  curse  it,  if  it  be  not  de- 
voted in  its  measure  to  the  good  of  others  and  to  the 
honour  of  him  that  gave  it.  But  this  talent  may  be  trans- 
muted by  grace  into  food  for  the  hungry,  raiment  for  the 
naked,  religious  instruction  for  the  ignorant,  Bibles  for 
those  who  have  none,  missions  to  those  who  know  not  the 
gospel ;  and  the  possessor  of  it  will  realize  the  fulfilment  of 
the  promise,  "  There  is  that  scattereth,  and  yet  increaseth  ; 
and  he  that  watereth  others,  shall  be  watered  himself." 
Is  your  talent  rank  or  dignity  ?  It  may  be  lent  to  dissipa- 
tion, indolence,  frivolity,  and  crime.  It  may  be  dese- 
crated to  gild  corruption,  and  so  spread  it ;  to  uphold 
error,  and  so  injure  the  souls  of  mankind.  Or  it  may  be- 
come a  precious  patroness  of  every  effort  of  beneficence, 
and  associate  itself  with  every  religious  and  missionary 
movement,  and  acquire  by  this  employment  additional 
beauty,  and  prove  to  the  enemies  of  our  social  order  that 
the  aristocracy  of  our  country  is  not  a  useless  sinecure, 
but  a  sacred  trust,  found  true  to  its  responsibility  before 
God  and  man.  Is  it  intellectual  strength,  pre-eminence, 
and  knowledge  that  constitute  your  talent?  You  may 
expend  it  in  writing  the  frivolous  novel,  in  catering  to  a 
diseased  appetite,  in  upholding  a  mere  party,  in  writing  or 
speaking  in  the  direction  of  the  largest  bribe,  in  acquiring 
pre-eminence  on  the  turf  or  at  the  card-table,  in  betting 
and  such  like  things,  where  superiority  of  talent  is  the 
measure  of  the  shame  and  the  degradation  of  him  that  has 
it.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  you  may  employ  it  in  re- 
dressing the  wrongs  of  the  sufferer,  in  vindicating  the 
rights  of  the  down-trodden,  in  improving  the  social  and 
moral  condition  of  mankind,  in  useful  inventions,  in  up- 

ii.  SRI*.  29 


338  FORESHADOWS. 

holding  a  pure  and  elevated  literature,  in  the  pulpit  or  on 
the  platform,  in  promoting  the  honour  of  God,  and  in 
making  men  happy  here  and  hereafter. 

Unto  one,  it  is  said,  he  gave  five  talents.  This  does  not 
mean  giving  according  to  the  measure  of  faith,  for  faith 
itself  is  the  gift  of  God ;  but  it  does  mean  giving  ac- 
cording to  our  natural  or  spiritual  capacity.  Individual 
character  is  the  groundwork  of  the  gift.  It  does  not  im- 
ply that  there  are  three  vessels,  each  of  the  same  capacity, 
and  that  to  the  one  are  given  five  talents,  and  to  the  se- 
cond two,  and  to  the  third  only  one.  In  such  a  case  there 
would  be  deficiency  in  two.  But  it  teaches,  that  to  the 
largest  is  given  five — exactly  the  number  which  it  can 
contain  ;  to  the  next  two — its  appropriate  measure ;  and 
to  the  last  one — equal  to  its  contents ;  and  all,  whether 
one,  two,  or  five,  are  given  in  sacred  trust,  to  be  rendered 
an  account  of  to  Him  that  gave  them.  Thus,  the  trust  is 
not  too  little,  or  too  light,  lest  it  should  be  despised ;  it  is 
not  too  much,  or  too  heavy,  lest  it  should  weigh  down ;  it 
is  just  what  each  is  able,  if  only  he  be  willing  and  faithful, 
to  use  to  the  glory  of  God,  and  to  the  good  of  mankind. 

Two  of  those  thus  intrusted  laid  out  their  talents.  They 
felt  that  they  had  received  from  the  great  Giver  a  solemn 
trust.  The  goodness  of  the  Giver,  as  expressed  in  the 
gift,  kindled  gratitude  in  those  who  received  it.  They  felt 
a  responsibility;  but  a  joyful  responsibility.  They  there- 
fore turned  them  to  account ;  and  having  good,  they  did 
good ;  and  possessed  of  power,  they  did  their  best  to  con- 
secrate it  to  a  right  use.  He,  however,  who  had  only  one 
talent,  buried  it  in  the  earth,  that  is,  made  no  use  of  it. 
This  did  not  arise  from  the  fact,  which  was  not  the  case, 
that  his  talent  differed  from  that  of  others,  and  was  there- 
fore incapable  of  increase.  It  was  not  because  he  had  no 
opportunity  of  turning  it  to  account,  or  no  inherent  energy 


THE  LAST  RECKONING.  339 

of  action  able  to  do  so.  It  was  not  because  he  had  no  in- 
telligible instructions ;  for  this  is  not  pleaded.  Christ  dis- 
tributed in  the  exercise  of  sovereignty,  and  each  is  respon- 
sible, not  for  the  amount  he  receives,  whether  five  talents, 
two  talents,  or  one,  but  only  for  the  practical  use  to  which 
he  turns  that  which  he  has  received. 

At  the  end,  we  read,  that  the  lord  of  those  servants 
came  and  reckoned  with  them.  The  two  had  received  the 
talents  as  free  and  unmerited  gifts,  and,  acting  under  the 
inspiring  influence  of  gratitude  and  love,  had  turned  them 
to  the  most  successful  account,  met  their  lord  in  the  judg- 
ment, just  as  they  had  met  him  in  grace,  with  alacrity  and 
joy,  and  gave  to  him  an  account  of  their  stewardship. 
One  says,  "  Lord,  thou  deliveredst  unto  me  five  talents : 
behold,  I  have  gained  beside  them  five  talents  more." 
Grace  bestowed,  and  diligence  inspired  by  grace  gained. 
So  Paul  speaks,  "I;  yet  not  I,  but  the  grace  of  God  that 
was  in  me."  In  Luke  it  is  written,  "  Thy  pounds  have 
gained;"  but  in  either  case,  whether  as  recorded  in*  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew,  or  in  that  of  Luke,  there  is  no  pre- 
tension to  merit  implied  in  their  account.  Our  capital  is 
not  our  own ;  our  health  and  strength  are  not  our  own ; 
and  whereunto  we  have  attained,  and  whatsoever  we  have 
gained,  are  entirely,  from  first  to  last,  by  the  distinguish- 
ing grace  of  Him  who  makes  us  to  difler,  and  who  gives 
us  grace  to  put  our  talents  to  their  legitimate  and  proper 
use.  The  name  and  superscription  of  the  great  Lord  and 
Owner  of  heaven  and  earth,  are  legible  on  all  we  are  and 
on  all  we  have ;  and  the  source  of  the  largest  and  the 
smallest  boon,  traced  rightly,  will  find  its  spring  in  the 
throne  of  grace.  The  last,  however,  who  appears  before 
the  Son  of  man,  gives  a  very  different  account  of  himself. 
At  first  one  might  think  there  was  something  plausible  in 
his  apology ;  so  little  was  given  him,  that  one  might  think 


340  FORESHADOWS. 

very  little  might  have  been  expected  of  him;  and  of  little, 
little  good  can  be  done ;  and  besides,  he  argues,  what  seems 
very  reasonable,  that  he  had  a  severe  and  exacting  lord, 
and  that  therefore,  on  the  whole,  he  consulted  best  his  own 
good  by  hiding  it  out  of  sight.  This  is  a  totally  distinct 
character  from  the  unjust  steward,  who  wasted  his  master's 
goods,  or  from  the  prodigal,  who  spent  his  father's  endow- 
ment in  riotous  living.  This  parable  contains  instruction, 
not  for  the  reckless  that  scatter,  nor  for  the  infidel  that 
denies ;  but  for  the  professor,  who  has  a  talent  of  some 
sort,  an  element  of  power  of  greater  or  less  capability; 
but  refuses,  through  mistaken  views,  or  indolence,  or 
shame,  or  some  other  unsatisfactory  reason,  to  make  a 
right  and  diligent  use  of  it.  Let  us  then  feel  that,  how- 
ever little  the  talent  may  be,  whether  it  be  a  little  time,  a 
little  genius,  a  little  money,  a  little  influence,  or  a  little 
character,  or  a  little  opportunity,  it  is  given  us  by  God, 
who  expects  its  improvement ;  and  that  we  are  responsible 
for  the  right  use  of  the  talent  that  we  have,  and  not  for 
any  other  talent  that  others  have.  It  will  not  do  to  say, 
"  My  own  salvation  is  so  important,  and  my  own  soul  so 
precious,  that  I  have  nothing  to  spare  for  the  instruction 
of  others."  This  is  not  Christian  language  ;  it  is  not  rea- 
sonable ;  it  jp  not  true.  The  intensest  sympathy  with  the 
wants  of  others  is  compatible  with  the  intensest  anxiety 
about  our  own.  It  is  just  the  man  who  feels  deeply  the 
value  of  his  own  soul  who  feels  most  deeply  and  sympa- 
thizingly  for  the  salvation  of  others.  There  will  be  always, 
at  least,  what  is  no  less  delightful,  comfort  within  in  pro- 
portion to  the  Christian  energy  that  we  exert  without. 
But  we  see  at  once  the  secret  root  of  the  neglect  of  the 
talent  that  was  given  him.  "I  knew  thee  that  thou  art  an 
hard  man,  reaping  where  thou  hast  not  sown,  and  gather- 
ing where  thou  hast  not  strawed :  and  I  was  afraid,  and 


THE   LAST   RECKONING.  341 

went  and  hid  thy  talent  in  the  earth :  lo,  there  thou  hast 
that  is  thine."  Now,  this  was  a  misapprehension,  wilful  or 
not,  I  cannot  say,  of  the  character  of  the  Son  of  man;  and 
upon  this  misapprehension  was  based  the  mischievous  and 
ruinous  course  which  the  possessor  of  this  talent  pursued. 
He  had  no  sense  of  God  as  the  gracious  giver  of  the  bless- 
ing :  he  regarded  him  wholly  as  the  stern  and  imperious 
exactor  of  duties.  The  secret  of  our  fears,  and  our  sus- 
picions, and  the  feebleness  of  our  efforts,  is  very  much  in 
these  words :  "I  knew  thee  that  thou  art  an  hard  man, 
reaping  where  thou  hast  not  sown,  and  gathering  where 
thou  hast  not  strawed."  An  overpowering  impression  of 
God  as  demanding  duties,  and  a  feeble  apprehension  of 
him  as  bestowing  gifts  and  blessings,  is  the  secret  cause 
of  the  deficiency  that  is  so  apparent  in  the  response  of 
men  to  the  goodness  of  God.  When  we  think  nothing  of 
what  God  bids,  and  think  only  of  how  much  God  gives, 
we  feel  gratitude  toward  him,  and  rejoice  instinctively  to 
engage  in  corresponding  duties.  It  is  plain  then,  from  a 
just  analysis  of  this  excuse,  that  the  indolent  party  throws 
the  blame  on  God.  He  declares  that  God  reaps  where  he 
has  not  sown ;  that  he  was,  in  short,  a  Pharaoh,  requiring 
bricks  and  giving  no  straw,  imposing  burdens  and  with- 
holding strength  to  bear  them.  This  is  a  too  common,  but 
a  most  grievous,  misapprehension  of  God,  and  its  fruit  is 
just  what  is  here  expressed — terror,  he  was  "afraid;" 
and  its  effect  is  what  we  here  find — inactivity,  indolence, 
and  unfruitfulness  in  every  good  work.  It  is  just  the  alloy 
of  such  feeling  that  leads  Christians  still  to  shrink  from 
all  that  they  must  confess  to  be  obvious  duty.  Many  are 
afraid  to  come  to  the  communion  table,  because  they  think 
it  is  spread  by  one  that  reaps  where  he  did  not  sow ;  or  to 
make  a  public  profession  of  the  gospel,  because  they  think 
it  is  a  hard  taskmaster  that  demands  more  than  they  can 


342  FORESHADOWS. 

render.  Whereas,  it  has  ever  been  found  that  he  that  in- 
spires one  to  undertake  a  duty,  gives  strength  to  do  it ; 
and  that  the  very  willingness  to  do  is  a  pledge  and  earnest 
of  God's  fulfilment  of  his  promise,  to  give  his  strength  to 
be  made  perfect  in  their  \veakness. 

He  exclaims  after  this,  "  Lo,  there  thou  hast  that  is 
thine."  This  is  absolutely  impossible  :  the  talent  was 
positively  wasted,  because  it  was  unused  :  it  is  impossible 
to  disuse,  and  yet  not  waste  :  how  obvious  is  it,  from  his 
language,  that  an  uncovered  man  gives  with  a  grudge  ! 

The  reply  given  to  this  servant  was,  "  Thou  wicked  ser- 
vant," as  if  the  Son  of  man  had  said,  "  by  what  you  have 
stated,  and  judging  by  your  own  clear  impression,  you 
ought  to  have  made  the  greater  and  the  more  laborious  use 
of  that  which  you  knew  I  should  demand  from  you.  Out 
of  your  own  mouth  you  are  condemned  :  your  own  acknow- 
ledgment condemns  you  :  your  own  admission  is  evidence 
against  you.  Thou  oughtest  therefore  to  have  put  my 
money  to  the  exchangers."  A  German  critic  makes  the 
remark  on  this  :  "  Thus  timid  natures,  that  are  not  suited 
to  independent  labours  in  the  kingdom  of  God,  are  here 
counselled  at  least  to  attach  themselves  to  stronger  cha- 
racters, under  whose  leading  they  may  lay  out  their  gifts 
to  the  service  of  the  church." 

The  judgment  pronounced  upon  him  is,  "  Take  the  ta- 
lent from  him."  This  is  a  natural  as  well  as  a  penal  effect 
of  the  misuse  of  what  we  were  bound  to  turn  to  proper 
account.  If  we  cease  to  use  a  limb,  we  shall  find  its  mus- 
cles die  away,  and  its  strength  utterly  depart.  Employ 
that  limb,  not  beyond  its  strength,  but  according  to  its 
strength,  and  it  will  grow  in  vigour  and  vitality.  Corn 
kept  hoarded  up  in  the  granary,  is  soon  destroyed;  scat- 
tered on  the  earth  and  in  good  soil,  it  grows  up  into  a 
golden  harvest.  Do  we  not  see  also  in  the  providence  of 


THE   LAST   RECKONING.  843 

God,  a  man  diligent  in  business  step  into  a  place  where  his 
talent  may  be  employed,  and  add  to  his  own  the  connection 
of  another  who  was  careless  and  inattentive  ?  The  hand 
of  diligence  maketh  rich  ;  unused  privileges  are  invari- 
ably soon  forfeited.  The  way  to  accumulation  is  disper- 
sion. Would  you  be  rich ;  scatter  to  the  claims  of  the 
poor.  Would  you  be  happy ;  try  to  make  others  so. 
Would  you  be  great ;  help  every  one  up  the  hill.  The  oil 
will  increase  by  effusion ;  the  bread,  by  giving ;  for  by  a 
beautiful  law,  our  own  happiness  is  generated  in  the  greatest 
degree,  by  our  greatest  exertion  to  make  others  sharers  of 
it.  This  taking  away  is,  however,  a  process,  not  a  closing 
act  of  judgment.  The  wasting  limb  and  the  rusting  iron 
are  visible  evidences  of  neglect.  Intellect  not  drawn  on, 
soon  flags ;  and  privileges  long  neglected,  soon  pass  away 
to  others. 

The  reward  of  grace  is  not,  then,  according  to  original 
endowment,  whether  that  endowment  was  spiritual  or  ma- 
terial merely  in  its  nature,  because  it  was  solely  and  wholly 
in  sovereignty ;  but  it  is  according  to  the  actual  use  and 
employment  that  we  make  of  it.  Every  excuse  that  in- 
genuity can  give  for  sloth  is  utterly  worthless.  There  is 
no  reason  on  the  earth,  why  every  man  should  not  be 
active,  diligent,  and  daily  turning  to  account  every  op- 
portunity of  doing  good,  or  of  receiving  good,  that  occurs 
throughout  the  providence  of  God. 

The  whole  parable  presents  a  very  instructive  cartoon 
of  the  future.  We  see  by  it  what  is  before  us.  0  Lord, 
give  us  grace  so  to  use  the  talents  thou  hast  given  us, 
that  they  may  contribute  to  thy  glory,  and  to  the  good 
of  ail. 


344 


LECTURE  XXI. 

*  THE   LAST   DISCRIMINATION. 

Again,  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  like  unto  a  net,  that  was  cast  into  the  sea, 
and  gathered  of  every  kind  :  which,  when  it  was  full,  they  drew  to  shore, 
and  sat  down,  and  gathered  the  good  into  vessels,  hut  cast  the  bad  away. 
So  shall  it  be  at  the  end  of  the  world :  the  angels  shall  come  forth,  and  sever 
the  wicked  from  among  the  just,  and  shall  cast  them  into  the  furnace  of  fire : 
there  shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth.  Jesus  saith  unto  them,  Have 
ye  understood  all  these  things  ?  They  say  unto  him,  Yea,  Lord. — MATT.  xiii. 
47-51. 

THIS  parable  seems,  at  first  sight,  to  be  almost  iden- 
tical in  meaning  and  in  import  with  the  parable  of  the 
tares,  but  its  identity  is,  in  fact,  more  apparent  than  real. 
Each  parable  has  certainly  this  one  central  and  distin- 
guishing fact,  that  it  is  an  exhibition  of  the  mixture  of 
saints  and  sinners,  good  and  bad,  tares  and  wheat,  in  the 
outward  and  visible  corporation  called  the  church  of 
Christ.  This  one  fact  they  have  in  common,  and  this  one 
our  Lord  seems  to  have  been  anxious  to  impress  upon  his 
church  and  people,  that  indeed  the  visible  church  would 
not  be  identical  with  the  true  church,  but  would  consist 
of  good  and  bad,  tares  and  wheat.  But,  notwithstanding 
this  identity  in  one  grand  central  peculiarity,  there  is  a 
distinction  of  great  practical  value.  In  the  parable  of 
the  tares  and  wheat  we  have  the  prohibition  clearly  an- 
nounced, that  neither  apostle,  nor  minister,  nor  synod, 
nor  priest,  nor  anybody  else  is  to  root  up  tares  under  the 
mistaken  idea  of  securing  a  pure  church,  lest  in  tearing  up 
the  tares  they  should  injure  the  wheat :  and  we  have  also 


THE   LAST   DISCRIMINATION.  345 

the  other  truth,  embodied  in  the  parable  of  the  tares  and 
wheat,  that  these  should  grow  and  mingle  together  till  the 
harvest  should  come.  In  this  our  Lord  meets  the  exces- 
sive purism,  if  I  may  so  call  it,  which  will  not  join  a 
church  unless  it  be  a  perfect  one,  which  determines  to  wait 
till  it  mid  a  perfect  visible  church,  and  so  is  doomed  to 
wait  till  the  Millennium.  Never  having  joined  such  a 
church  as  can  be  found  below,  the  prospect  is  dim  and 
faint  indeed  that  such  will  be  united  to  that  which  shall  be 
in  the  age  to  come.  But  in  the  drag-net,  which  is  the  pa- 
rable on  which  I  am  now  about  to  write,  we  have  the  per- 
fect assurance  that  this  separation  shall  take  place.  In  the 
first,  that  is,  the  parable  of  the  tp,res  and  wheat,  we  have 
the  declaration  that  men  were  not  to  make  the  separation ; 
in  the  parable  of  the  drag-net,  we  have  the  promise  that 
God  will  do  it.  The  first  parable  is  designed  to  stay  the 
hands  of  the  rash ;  the  second  is  made  to  comfort  the 
drooping  and  discouraged  hearts  of  the  holy.  The  first 
parable  was  fitted  to  forbid  impatience,  and  to  inculcate 
forbearance,  tenderness,  brotherly  kindness,  charity  ;  be- 
lieving all,  hoping  all ;  yet  rejoicing  not  in  iniquity,  but 
rejoicing  in  the  truth ;  rather  erring  on  the  side  of  sup- 
posing that  more  were  Christians  than  there  are,  than  err- 
ing on  the  side  of  supposing  that  fewer  were  Christians 
than  there  seem  to  be.  And  this  last  parable,  again,  was 
intended  to  cheer  the  hearts  of  the  people  of  God  with 
this  bright  hope,  that  if  there  should  be  a  hypocrite  in  the 
church  now,  if  there  should  be  a  loud  professor  with  a 
very  insincere  heart  now,  if  there  should  be  much  preten- 
sion and  too  little  principle  now,  it  will  not  be  so  always  :  a 
day  comes  when  God,  whose  prerogative  it  is,  will  inter- 
pose to  burn  the  tares,  and  to  gather  the  wheat  into  his 
garner ;  to  cast  away  the  bad  fish,  to  collect  the  good  into 
vessels  :  and  then  shall  the  righteous  shine  forth  in  the 


346  FORESHADOWS. 

kingdom  of  their  Father.  We  thus  see  with  what  pro- 
priety and  beauty  each  parable  is  constructed,  and  how  a 
central  and  guiding  point  is  always  to  be  kept  in  view  in 
quoting  the  parable.  Certainly  the  tendency  of  both 
parables,  of  that  of  the  tares  and  wheat,  as  well  as  that 
of  the  good  and  bad  fishes,  is  to  destroy  the  common  idea, 
that  to  belong*-to  a  visible  church  is  necessarily  to  belong 
to  the  true  church ; — that  to  be  baptized  is  necessarily  to 
be  regenerate  ; — that  to  be  related  to  a  church  that  holds 
Christ  to  be  its  head,  is  necessarily  to  be  a  member  of  the 
body  of  Christ,  and  an  heir  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven ; — 
and  that,  in  short,  whatever  prerogatives  and  attributes 
Christ  asserts  to  belong  to  his  living,  true,  redeemed 
church,  ought,  as  alleged,  to  belong  to  any  one  visible 
church  that  men  may  think  to  be  the  best  and  the  purest. 
Such  an  idea  is  the  very  germ  and  essence  of  Popery. 
The  moment  that  a  man  conies  to  believe  that  there  is  a 
church  which  can  speak  through  its  bishops,  or  its  synods, 
or  its  priests,  or  its  presbyters,  the  very  mind  of  Christ, 
and  whose  decision  is  the  decision  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  it 
is  something  else  than  consistency  which  keeps  him  from 
saying  that  the  Church  of  Rome  is  the  mother  and  mis- 
tress of  all  churches,  and  that  the  pope  is  the  vicar  of 
Christ,  and  the  head,  under  Christ,  of  the  church  universal. 
What  does  the  apostle  say  ?  "  The  Lord  knoweth  them 
that  are  his."  It  is  well  that  we  do  not  always  know  ;  if 
we  did,  we  should  perhaps  worship  some  and  anathematize 
others.  We  are  told  that  there  was  a  Ham  in  the  ark,  a 
Judas  among  the  apostles ;  we  read  of  a  Demas  in  apostolic 
days ;  Esau  and  Jacob  still  struggle  together  in  the  womb 
of  the  visible  church  of  Christ ;  the  tares  and  the  wheat  that 
were  in  the  one  parable,  and  the  good  and  the  bad  fish  that 
were  contained  in  the  net  in  the  other  parable,  are  still 
mixed  up.  Therefore  it  becomes  us  to  make  up  our  minds 


THE   LAST   DISCRIMINATION.  347 

that  there  will  be  no  pure,  no  perfect  church,  no  church 
identical  with  the  true  spiritual  church  in  this  dispensation. 
And  this  does  not  prevent  us  from  seeking  the  communion 
of  the  purest  church  that  we  can  find  ;  it  is  perfectly 
proper  to  seek  to  join,  not  the  nearest,  but  the  best — not 
the  oldest,  but  the  most  scriptural — not  that  which  men 
canonize,  but  that  which  our  own  conscience  and  our  own 
experience  tell  us  are  most  blessed  of  God  in  conveying  to 
our  minds  the  light  of  truth,  to  our  consciences  the  peace 
of  God,  and  to  our  hearts  the  hopes  of  the  everlasting 
gospel.  And  so  when,  having  sought  such  a  communion 
as  this,  we  find  it,  we  may  not  lightly  leave  it ;  and  if 
you  find  that  you  are  not  so  edified  in  1852  as  you  were 
in  1851,  or  that  you  are  not  so  edified  this  year  as  you 
were  last,  do  not  say,  as  many  do,  it  is  the  minister's 
preaching  that  is  so  dull,  it  is  his  sermons  that  are  so  ill- 
studied,  and  therefore  you  will  not  remain  longer,  you  will 
take  a  turn  in  this  chapel  on  the  left,  or  that  church  on 
the  right.  Do  you  not  see  how  quietly  and  undoubtingly 
you  assume  that  the  minister  is  at  fault  ?  You  take  it  for 
granted  that  it  is  the  minister's  sermons,  and  the  minister's 
study,  and  the  minister's  feelings,  and  the  minister's  con- 
victions that  are  all  wrong ;  and  very  complacently  assume 
that  it  is  impossible  that  there  should  be  more  worldliness 
in  your  minds  to  exclude  the  power  of  divine  truth,  more 
absorption  in  the  world  preventing  a  heartfelt  interest  in 
the  gospel ;  or,  which  is  very  often  the  case,  whenever  a 
man  falls  into  some  sin  which  is  dear  and  delightful  to 
him,  but  which  in  his  conscience  he  knows  to  be  wrong,  he 
will  not  remain  long  in  a  place  where  the  gospel  is  most  faith- 
fully preached.  He  must  go  where  he  will  hear  peace, 
peace  without,  or  there  will  be  no  peace  at  all  within. 
Wherever  and  whenever  the  contest  begins,  at  all  hazards 
keep  within  reach  of  the  truth  of  God,  and,  as  soon  as  you 


348  FORESHADOWS. 

can,  get  rid  of  the  golden  wedge  and  the  Babylonish 
garment,  which  alone  interferes  with  your  comfort,  your 
happiness,  and  your  peace. 

Having  noticed  the  fact,  that  the  visible  church  is  thus 
composed  of  good  and  bad,  and  that  we  must  not  expect, 
in  this  dispensation,  a  perfectly  pure  church,  and  y«t  that 
we  must  not  forbear  to  join  ourselves  to  such  as  we  can 
reach,  though  we  are  convinced' that  many  things  in  it  are 
not  so  good  as  we  could  wish  them  to  be,  just  as  we  must 
not  lay  aside  the  weapons  which  do  the  work,  because  they 
do  not  do  it  so  perfectly  and  so  rapidly  as  we  could  desire, 
— I  now  proceed  to  examine  what  we  read  in  this  parable 
of  the  net  which  was  drawn  out,  and  in  which  fishes  were 
gathered,  good  and  bad.  Those  who  have  only  seen  what 
is  called  deep-sea  fishing,  on  the  southern  coast  of  England, 
cannot  comprehend  the  meaning  of  a  drag-net,  which  is 
not  a  net  cast  over  the  stern  of  the  boat  into  the  sea,  but 
such  nets  as  you  may  have  seen  in  salmon  rivers,  dfr  at 
the  mouth  of  rivers  which  fall  into  a  bay,  such  as  the 
Tweed,  the  Dee,  the  Don,  and  the  Spey ;  these  rivers  fall 
into  an  open  bay,  and  the  nets  employed  are  long  nets, 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length;  the  lower  edge  is 
sunk  with  lead,  the  upper  edge  is  floated  with  cork ;  the 
fishermen  take  a  sweep  out,  stretching  the  net  from  one 
point  in  the  shore,  and  taking  a  sweep  of  half  or  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  to  sea,  thus  going  round,  and  bringing  the  other 
end  of  the  net  in  again  to  shore,  and  thus  all  the  fish 
within  its  sweep  are  dragged  to  shore  for  the  fishermen. 
This  is  Avhat  is  called  the  drag-net,  which  drags  along  the 
bottom  of  rivers,  so  that  no  fish  can  escape  by  getting  out 
below,  or  leaping  over  above,  and  therefore  all  within  the 
sweep  must  be  drawn  ashore.  So,  says  our  blessed  Lord, 
it  is  with  the  gospel :  the  great  ocean  is  the  world ;  the 


THE   LAST   DISCRIMINATION.  349 

ordinances,  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  its  ministrations, 
its  means  of  grace,  are  the  outspread  and  comprehensive 
net ;  none  are  so  deep  that  it  does  not  descend  to  them, 
none  so  high  that  it  does  not  reach  them,  none  so  bad  that 
they  are  cast  out,  none  so  good  that  they  are  passed  by ; 
it  collects  all,  good  and  bad,  clean  and  unclean,  (for  that 
is,  I  apprehend,  the  real  distinction :)  for  under  the  Mosaic 
economy,  all  animals  were  divided  into  clean  and  unclean ; 
thus  all  those  quadrupeds  which  divide  the  hoof  and  rechew 
their  food  were  clean  :  and  though  that  is  a  Mosaic  regu- 
lation, it  is  an  eminently  practical  one  :  so  also  among 
fishes,  those  fish  were  regarded  as  clean  which  had  fins 
and  scales  ;  and  probably  the  distinction  here  is,  not  that 
there  were  drawn  in  reptiles,  venomous  and  poisonous  rep- 
tiles, such  as  might  be  found  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  but 
fishes  that  were  unclean,  fishes  that  were  half  clean,  and 
fishes  that  were  clean,  a  mixture  of  all  classes,  were 
brought  in  and  dragged  to  shore,  both  good  and  bad.  So 
we  are  told  it  is  with  the  gospel  church.  There  will  be  found 
in  it,  as  I  have  shown,  good  and  bad  mixed  together ;  men 
whom  grace  has  reformed,  men  that  corrupt  nature  still  holds 
in  her  grasp  ;  men  who  have  evidently  felt  the  pOAver  of  that 
religion  which  transforms  the  wolf  into  the  lamb,  and  men 
who  have  not  felt  that  power  at  all,  but  remain  where  nature 
left  them,  and  as  the  curse  scathed  them,  unclean,  unholy, 
and  unfit  for  God.  It  is  no  objection,  therefore,  to  Chris- 
tianity, though  some  men  have  made  it,  that  there  are  bad 
men  as  well  as  good  in  the  church.  How  often  do  we  find 
the  skeptic  or  the  worldling,  when  he  is  particularly  anx- 
ious to  get  a  smart  objection  to  Christianity,  or  a  reason 
for  having  nothing  to  do  with  it,  quote  such  a  person,  or 
such  a  minister,  who  was  a  great  professor  and  a  good 
preacher,  but  who  fell  into  such  a  sin,  and  say  that  is  a 
reason  for  rejecting  the  whole?  But  I  say  that  if  there 

II.  SER.  30 


350  FORESHADOWS. 

were  no  bad  mingled  with  the  good  in  the  visible  church,  it 
would  be  an  objection,  and  a  valid  objection;  for  every 
passage  in  the  Bible  which  alludes  to  the  subject,  leads  us 
to  think  that  the  visible  church  will  be  a  mixture  of  good 
and  bad,  and  the  very  fact  of  finding  the  bad  in  the  midst 
of  it  is  only  evidence  of  the  fulfilment  of  God's  prophecy, 
that  so  it  should  be  till  the  end  of  the  world.  But  if  there 
be  good  and  bad,  do  not  blame  our  religion.  The  gospel 
never  made  men  bad;  it  is  not  fitted  to  do  so;  and  to  blame 
Christianity  for  bad  men  and  hypocrites,  is  no  more  fair 
than  to  blame  patriotism  for  traitors,  or  the  mint  for  bad 
coin,  or  the  Bank  of  England  for  forged  bank-notes ;  these 
are  things  that  happen  to  come  with  them,  they  are  not 
the  spontaneous  result  and  efflux  of  the  institution  itself; 
so  that  the  very  objection  argued  against  the  reception  of 
Christianity,  instead  of  being  a  valid  objection  against  it., 
proves  how  truly  Christ  and  his  apostles  spoke,  when  they 
said  that  it  should  be  so  to  the  end. 

But  when  the  net  is  drawn  to  shore,  the  separation  takes 
place.  The  vile  are  severed  from  the  precious,  the  good 
are  taken  from  among  the  bad ;  or,  in  the  language  of  our 
Lord  in  that  remarkable  prophecy  in  the  Gospel  of  St. 
Matthew,  the  "one  is  taken,  and  the  other  left;"  or,  ac- 
cording to  the  description  of  the  judgment-day,  the  one 
shall  be  placed  on  the  right  hand,  and  the  other  on  the 
left.  At  present,  you  cannot  exclude  A,  and  say  that  he 
is  bad,  because  there  are  no  visible  fruits,  nor  can  you  point 
to  B,  and  say  he  is  absolutely  good.  Our  province  now  is 
not  to  judge;  but  to  spread  the  net,  and  draw  all  we  can 
by  the  attraction  of  the  gospel  within  reach  of  the  sancti- 
fying influences  of  redeeming  grace.  "Now  we  see  through 
a  glass  darkly,  but  then  face  to  face;"  now  the  life  of  a 
Christian  "is  hid  with  Christ  in  God."  Now  God's  people 
are  described  as  "God's  hidden  ones,"  and  now  the  hypo- 


THE    LAST   DISCRIMINATION.  351 

elites  wear  the  same  raiment,  speak  the  same  Shibboleth, 
express  the  same  hopes,  appear  at  the  same  communion 
table,  are  baptized  at  the  same  font,  and  therefore  we  can- 
not distinguish  which  is  the  good  and  which  the  bad,  ac- 
curately, infallibly,  and  in  every  case.  But  the  day  comes 
when  this  distinction  will  take  place :  we  read  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans,  that  a  time  comes,  when  shall  be  made  ma- 
nifest the  sons  of  God,  a  day  when  the  true  church  of 
Christ  shall  be  seen  in  its  true  and  its  absolute  purity; 
when  the  bride  shall  come  down  from  heaven,  prepared  as 
a  bride  for  the  bridegroom ;  when  the  New  Jerusalem,  in  all 
its  beauty,  splendour,  and  imperishable  glory,  a  thing  of 
heaven,  not  a  creation  of  the  earth,  shall  be  manifested  here, 
and  all  nations  shall  come  to  the  brightness  of  its  rising. 
And  so,  when  that  discrimination  takes  place,  "  the  good 
are  cast  into  vessels;"  "In  my  Father's  house  are  many 
mansions;"  "the  wheat  was  taken  and  put  into  barns." 
There  are  the  everlasting  habitations  of  the  New  Jerusa- 
lem ;  and  within  are  Christ's  people,  without  are  they  that 
defile,  and  whatsoever  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie. 

But  the  bad,  we  read,  "were  cast  away."  How  often 
that  expression  "cast  away,"  or  "cast  out,"  is  used  in 
Scripture  to  denote  condemnation!  For  instance,  our 
Lord  says,  "Him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out."  We  often  attach  to  it  the  popular  meaning  of 
rejection,  but  in  the  Book  of  Revelation  we  read,  "With- 
out are  dogs,"  z.  e.  unclean  persons,  sinners;  and  so  this 
peculiar  phrase  runs  through  the  whole  Scripture  to  denote 
a  state  of  condemnation.  Again,  our  Lord  says,  "  He  that 
abideth  not  in  me  is  cast  forth  as  a  branch  and  is  withered." 
Again,  "The  prince  of  this  world  shall  be  cast  out." 
Again,  "And  death  and  hell  (or  Hades)  shall  be  cast  into 
the  lake  of  fire."  The  word  "cast  out  from  the  presence 


352  FORESHADOWS. 

of  God,"  is  expressive  of  an  amount  of  suffering,  sorrow, 
and  ruin,  which  nothing  else  can  adequately  embody. 

There  is  a  very  important  inquiry  here,  who  it  is  that 
makes  the  separation  ?  Our  idea  would  he,  judging  from 
the  spirit  of  this  world,  that  the  same  man  who  spread  the 
net  would  also  make  the  separation.  We  have  seen  the 
net  full  of  fishes ;  we  have  seen  the  good  put  into  vessels, 
and  the  had  cast  again  into  the  sea;  and  we  would  natu- 
rally conclude  from  reading  this  parahle,  that  the  fishermen 
will  he  the  judges.  But  it  is  not  so,  for  we  read  in  verse 
40,  "  So  shall  it  he  at  the  end  of  the  world,  the  angels 
shall  come  forth,  and  sever  the  wicked  from  among  the 
just."  We  may  see,  therefore,  that  the  great  province  of 
the  ministers- of  the  gospel,  is  not  that  of  creating  sever- 
ance or  separation,  hut  that  of  spreading  the  net  and  col- 
lecting the  fishes.  The  phrase  that  ministers  were  to  be 
fishers  is  frequently  referred  to  in  Scripture.  The  prophet 
Isaiah  alludes  to  this  peculiar  function  when  he  says,  "Be- 
hold, I  will  send  for  many  fishers,  saith  the  Lord,  and  they 
shall  fish  them,"  i.e.  collect  them  again.  In  Ezekiel  we 
have  the  very  same  phrase,  where  the  prophet  says,  "It 
shall  come  to  pass,  that  the  fishers  shall  stand  upon  it  from 
Engedi  even  unto  Eneglaim."  We  read  again,  that  our 
Lord  addressed  the  apostles  and  said,  "Follow  me,  and  I 
will  make  you  fishers  of  men."  We  have  the  same  idea  in 
Luke  v.  10,  "And  Jesus  said  unto  Simon,  Fear  not,  from 
henceforth  thoushalt  catch  men:"  the  constant  application 
of  the  similitude  of  a  fisher  to  the  ministers  of  the  gospel, 
denoting  that  this  was  their  great  function.  We  have  thus 
this  idea  clearly  set  before  us,  that  the  ministers  of  the  gos- 
pel are  not  suffered  to  pronounce  the  destinies  and  doom  of 
the  members  of  the  Christian  church,  they  are  simply  fishers ; 
and  the  less  of  the  severer  they  assume,  and  the  more  of 
the  fisher  they  act,  the  more  they  seem  to  me  to  have  the 


THE   LAST   DISCRIMINATION.  353 

mind  of  Christ,  and  to  live  in  harmony  with  the  will  of 
Christ.  This  is  not  the  time  to  bring  men  before  the  throne 
of  judgment,  but  to  press  them  to  come  to  the  throne  of 
grace.  The  pulpit  is  not  the  spot  from  which  to  discrimi- 
nate between  persons,  but  to  discriminate  surely,  clearly, 
and  distinctly  between  characters  and  principles.  We  are 
now  to  go  and  spread  the  net,  not  to  mount  the  judgment- 
seat.  This  is  not  the  age  for  that:  we  are  not  the  men 
for  that.  Be  thankful  that  your  eternal  salvation  depends 
upon  no  man's  knowledge,  upon  no  synod's  decision,  upon 
no  minister's  word.  God  alone  can  pronounce  the  doom, 
and  what  the  minister  has  to  do  is  to  exhibit  Christ,  to 
proclaim  salvation — now  is  the  accepted  time ;  to  beckon 
all  sorts  to  the  cross;  to  tell  them  that  none  need  be  lost 
but  those  that  will,  and  all  may  be  saved  who  seek  salva- 
tion, "without  money  and  without  price."  And  it  seems 
to  me  a  function  of  the  most  delicate  and  difficult  descrip- 
tion, that  men  whose  lives  are  not  notoriously  corrupt, 
should  not  be  admitted  to  the  Lord's  table;  yet  at  the  same 
time  it  does  seem  to  me,  that  it  were  better  a  bad  man 
should  be  admitted  to  that  table,  than  that  one  true  child 
of  God  should  be  discouraged,  depressed,  and  kept  away. 
Having  seen  that  the  ministers  of  the  gospel  are  the 
fishers,  that  this  is  their  peculiar  function  :  that  they  are 
not  judges,  but  simply  declarers  of  the  truths  that  they 
are  commissioned  to  preach ;  that  their  office,  theologically 
distinguished,  is  not  a  judicial,  but  simply  a  declarative 
one ; — let  me  now  observe,  that  angels  are  described  as 
making  this  distinction,  as  I  have  showed  already.  The 
Lord  is  Judge  upon  the  throne,  and  his  officers  are  in 
every  instance  spoken  of  as  the  angels.  It  seems  that  they 
who  have  ministered  to  the  heirs  of  salvation,  are  appoint- 
ed to  occupy  a  post  of  some  sort  in  the  judgment  of  man. 
For  instance,  we  read  in  Matt.  xiii.  41,  "The  Son  of  man 

30* 


351  FORESHADOWS. 

shall  send  forth  his  angels,  and  they  shall  gather  out  of 
his  kingdom  all  things  that  offend,  and  them  which  do 
iniquity  ;  and  shall  cast  them  into  a  furnace  of  fire  :  there 
shall  be  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth."  And  so  we  read 
in  chap.  xxiv.  31,  "And  he  shall  send  his  angels,  with  a 
great  sound  of  a  trumpet,  and  they  shall  gather  together 
his  elect  from  the  four  winds,  from  one  end  of  heaven  to 
the  other."  I  do  not  believe  that  our  popular  notions  of 
the  judgment-day  are  correct  ones.  We  have  an  idea  that 
it  will  be  something  like  the  Central  Criminal  Court — 
something  like  an  assize  in  this  world,  where  witnesses  are 
to  be  heard,  and  where  facts  are  to  be  tested,  and  where 
God  is  to  pronounce  on  evidence.  I  believe  that  this  is 
not  the  true  idea.  The  moment  that  a  man  dies  the  bless- 
ing or  the  brand  is  fixed  upon  him ;  he  is  judged  already  : 
the  instant  that  a  man  departs  this  life  there  is  fixed  upon 
him  visibly,  indelibly,  happiness  or  misery.  Well  then, 
what  is  the  judgment-seat  set  for  ?  Not  to  try  the  man,  for 
it  is  done ;  but  to  show  before  heaven  and  earth,  angels 
and  men,  the  broad  universe  itself,  that  all  that  God  has 
done  has  been  in  justice,  in  faithfulness,  in  truth,  and  in 
love.  When  therefore  we  speak  of  the  day  of  judgment, 
I  do  think  we  must  not  associate  with  it  the  notion  of  a 
day  of  twenty-four  hours.  It  seems  to  begin  at  the  very 
beginning  of  the  Millennium;  when  Christ  shall  come, 
God's  people  will  be  instantly  gathered  ;  the  dead  raised, 
and  all  forthwith  happy.  I  believe  that  at  the  close  of  it 
the  great  white  throne  will  be  set,  and  from  that  throne 
sentence  will  go  forth  to  determine  the  lot  and  eternal 
condition  of  the  lost  only.  Thus  the  judgment  is  not  an 
ordeal,  but  a  visible  manifestation  of  the  fact  that  what 
God  has  done  was  done  in  love  and  truth;  and  it  will  be 
found,  I  solemnly  believe,  that  it  was  not  within  the  range 
of  omnipotence  itself  to  do  more  to  convince  sinners  of 


THE    LAST   DISCRIMINATION.  355 

their  ruin,  and  to  bring  them  to  Christ,  than  has  been 
done.  It  will  be  shown  that  it  was  not  within  the  reach 
of  omnipotence  to  do  more  to  bring  conviction  to  sinners 
than  God  has  done.  We  need  no  stronger  proof  of  this 
than  one  single  thought ;  for  instance,  what  can  be  longer, 
or  more  momentous,  than  an  eternity  of  joy  or  sorrow; 
yet  is  it  not  fact,  that  this  eternal  motive  may  be  brought 
to  bear  upon  a  man's  heart,  and  yet  fail  ?  Here  we  have 
the  appliance  of  eternity  failing  to  change  a  man's  heart ; 
and  I  believe  omnipotent  power  will  not  do  it,  because  man 
is  a  moral,  reasonable,  intellectual  being.  He  may  be 
crushed  into  a  hypocrite,  or  terrified  into  a  maniac,  but  he 
never  can  be  made  a  Christian  by  physical  force,  by  mere 
power :  it  must  be  through  the  influence  of  God's  truth, 
and  as  a  response  to  God's  love,  and  with  a  man's  full 
consent,  that  he  is  "  turned  from  darkness  to  light,  and 
from  the  power  of  Satan  unto  God." 

Angels  then  are  to  be  the  officers,  and  thus  the  line  of 
distinction  is  clearly  marked  between  them  and  us.  We 
spread  the  net ;  they  make  the  distinction :  we  gather  all, 
and  invite  all  to  come,  good  and  bad.  The  angels,  accord- 
ing to  the  commission  of  Christ  ihe  Judge,  separate  those 
whom  he  has  marked  as  bad  from  those  which  he  has  con- 
secrated as  good. 

We  see  how  completely  this  parable  is  in  keeping  with 
all  the  others  which  we  find  in  this  chapter.  We  learn, 
first  of  all,  I  repeat,  that  they  are  not  all  Israelites  who 
are  of  Israel,  that  the  visible  church  is  not  identical  with 
the  true  church.  That  there  are  men  who  are  ministers, 
communicants,  baptized,  who  never  were  Christians.  And 
so  it  will  be  till  Christ  comes,  and  the  great  decision  is 
made.  We  learn,  in  the  next  place,  this  very  important 
lesson,  that  all  of  us,  readers  and  writers,  are  within  the 
net.  Are  we  among  the  good,  or  the  bad  fishes  ?  Are  we 


356  FORESHADOWS. 

tares,  or  wheat  ?  I  do  not  believe,  I  solemnly  say,  that  it 
is  so  extremely  difficult  a  thing,  as  many  suppose,  to  know 
whether  we  are  Christians  or  not.  I  cannot  see  how  it 
can  be  so  difficult :  surely  a  man  may  know  himself.  It 
is  difficult  to  pronounce  truly  on  another — that  is  quite  a 
different  question — but  surely  a  man  knows  whether  the 
love  of  God  is  supreme  within  him ;  whether  to  do  God's 
will  in  his  aim,  his  effort,  his  end,  notwithstanding  many 
failures ;  whether  he  can  say,  Lord,  thou  knowest  all  things, 
thou  knowest  that  my  predominating  feeling  is  love  to  thee. 
Surely  one  may  ascertain  whether  he  trusts  to  that  Saviour 
as  the  only  foundation  of  his  hope  and  confidence  for  time 
and  for  eternity.  Surely  he  cannot  be  ignorant  that  he 
acts  from  right  motives.  Do  you  do  a  thing  because  it  is 
very  profitable,  or  because  a  great  principle  is  embodied 
in  it  ?  Do  you  pursue  a  course  because  .it  is  very  popular, 
or  because  you  can  see  that  God's  glory,  your  own  spiritual 
good,  and  man's  salvation  are  involved  in  it?  Look  at  your 
motives;  look  at  the  force  of  those  motives,  what  they 
enable  you  to  do,  what  they  help  you  to  triumph  over,  what 
they  encourage  you  to  meet  and  bear ;  and  you  will  then 
learn  the  reality,  the  depth,  the  substance  of -your  religion. 
Let  me  add,  that  when  this  separation  which  is  alluded 
to  is  made,  it  will  be  an  eternal  separation.  No  nets  will 
be  spread  from  the  shore  of  the  judgment-day ;  no  rains 
will  fall  and  no  sunbeams  lighten  upon  the  terrors  of  that 
day.  The  day  of  judgment  is  the  time  for  apportioning, 
fixing,  deciding.  The  day  of  grace  is  the  time  for  being 
converted,  saved,  and  sanctified.  If  men  are  to  be  happy 
for  ever,  they  must  be  happy  now ;  if  they  are  to  be  holy 
for  ever,  they  must  be  holy  now ;  if  they  are  to  be  Chris- 
tians in  eternity,  they  must  be  Christians  now.  Thus  the 
separation  takes  place.  And  what  a  separation !  The 
nadir  is  not  so  distant  from  the  zenith — the  east  is  not  so 


THE   LAST   DISCRIMINATION.  357 

distant  from  the  west — God's  throne  is  not  so  far  above 
Satan's — as  the  saved  will  be  severed  and  separated  from 
the  lost.  The  wings  of  love  can  cross  many  a  stream,  the 
feet  of  love  can'wade  many  a  deep  in  this  dispensation, 
but  there,  a  great  gulf  is  fixed,  so  that  he  who  would  come 
here  cannot,  and  he  who  would  go  there  cannot  go  farther. 

If  these  things  be  so,  let  all  self-deceivers  take  care.  It 
is  astonishing  that  man,  who  is  so  sharp  lest  his  fellow-man 
should  deceive  him,  should  be  so  blunt  when  he  deceives 
himself.  But  so  it  is,  that  those  who  are  so  suspicious 
of  the  Christianity  and  goodness  of  every  one  else,  rarely 
think  of  suspecting  their  own.  He  comes  whose  fan  is  in 
his  hand,  who  will  thoroughly  purge  his  floor,  and  who  will 
gather  the  wheat  into  his  garner,  but  he  will  burn  up  the 
chaff  with  unquenchable  fire.  A  form  of  godliness  will  not 
stand  in  the  end.  That  you  are  baptized  will  be  of  no 
avail ;  that  you  are  a  member  of  a  true  church  will  be  of 
no  use.  The  thing  that  will  be  sought  for  will  be  cha- 
racter— living,  sanctified,  holy,  Christian  character ;  and 
wherever  that  is,  be  it  in  the  Church  or  among  Dissenters, 
be  it  at  Rome  or  at  Geneva,  wherever  genuine,  living, 
Christian  character  is  to  be  found,  there  is  one  on  whom 
God  will  fix  his  seal,  and  say,  Let  this  righteous  man  be 
righteous  and  holy  for  ever.  Then,  let  it  be  the  prayer 
of  all  that  read  these  words,  "Gather  not  my  soul  with 
sinners;"  and  again,  "Search  me,  0  God,  and  know  my 
heart,  try  me  and  know  my  thoughts :  and  see  if  there  be 
any  wicked  way  in  me,  and  lead  me  in  the  way  everlast- 
ing." 

I  have  said,  let  all  self-deceivers  take  care  ;  let  all  eccle- 
siastical disputants  and  religious  controversialists  take 
care.  Deal  less  in  anathemas,  attempt  not  separation. 
Spread  your  nets;  do  not  mount  the  judgment-seat.  In- 
vite all  men  to  the  cross,  fulminate  anathemas  against 


358  FORESHADOWS. 

none.  Let  ministers  of  the  gospel  be  servants  to  do  God's 
will,  not  severers  to  execute  God's  decrees.  Let  ministers 
rejoice  to  be  servants,  to  do  simply  God's  will,  all  casting 
the  net,  and  not  endeavouring  to  usurp  Christ's  place. 

And,  in  the  next  place,  let  all  Christians  learn  to  be 
composed.  Be  patient,  brethren,  until  the  coming  of  the 
Lord.  Do  not  be  discouraged  because  an  unconverted 
man  sits  with  you  in  the  same  pew,  or  appears  with  you  at 
the  same  communion  table ;  do  not  be  alarmed  because 
some  you  thought  guiding  stars  plunge  into  darkness.  It 
is  not  a  failure  of  God's  promise,  it  is  only  a  failure  in  our 
judgment  and  discrimination. 

Let  us,  in  conclusion,  take  a  review  of  the  seven  para- 
bles in  this  chapter.  A  great  deal  has  been  written  upon 
them.  Some  have  tried  to  show  that  they  are  a  continuous 
chronological  prophecy  of 'what  was  to  be  to  the  end  of  the 
world  ;  but  I  think  it  has  been  shown  that  nothing  of  this 
kind  was  intended.  At  the  same  time  each  parable  brings 
out  a  distinct  truth  of  great  practical  importance.  One 
parable  states  that  a  sower  went  forth  to  sow:  here  we 
have  represented  the  propagation  and  progress  of  the  gos- 
pel. In  the  parable  of  the  tares  and  wheat,  we  have  the 
external  development  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  In  the 
mustard-tree,  we  have  a  description  of  its  progress  through 
oppositions  and  difficulty,  till  it  becomes  a  tree  under  which 
the  whole  earth  finds  shadow  and  shelter.  In  the  leaven, 
we  have  represented  the  work  of  the  gospel  in  its  silent 
and  gradual  progress.  In  the  found  treasure,  we  have  the 
personal  responsibility  of  the  individual :  how  one  who 
sees  a  thing  of  great  value  parts  with  every  thing  rather 
than  lose  it.  And,  lastly,  in  the  parable  of  the  good  and 
bad  fishes,  we  have  a  clear  intimation,  that  however  the 
good  and  the  evil  may  be  mingled  now,  God  will  separate 
them;  and  that  it  is  not  our  part  to  pronounce  and  sepa- 


THE   LAST   DISCRIMINATION.  359 

rate,  but  to  spread  the  net,  to  gather  all  we  can  within 
reach  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

And  then  our  Lord  asks,  at  the  conclusion  of  these  seven 
parables,  whether  his  hearers  understood  these  things  ? 
The  question  implies  that  the  meaning  was  designed  to  be 
understood ;  and  the  question  implies  also  that  they  are 
intelligible  to  men,  if  they  will  apply  themselves  to  it. 
What  was  the  Bible  written  for  ?  To  be  read.  What  is 
it  read  for  ?  To  be  understood.  And  what  is  the  way  to 
understand  it  ?  To  get  new  light  to  read  it  in,  and  a  new 
heart  to  read  it  with.  The  Bible  is,  on  the  whole,  the 
plainest  and  most  intelligible  book  that  ever  was  written, 
and  from  that  arises  the  influence  which  it  has  had, 
wherever  it  has  been  read  and  understood.  And  I  do 
believe  that  if  men  would  give  to  the  Bible  one-tenth  of 
the  trouble  and  care  that  they  give  to  the  reading  of  old 
manuscripts,  and  the  interpretation  of  ancient  authors, 
they  would  understand  thoroughly  the  mind  of  God ;  yet 
to  enable  us  savingly  to  understand  it,  we  need  Him  who 
inspired  the  Bible  to  teach  us.  A  scholar  may  understand 
the  Bible,  as  he  may  understand  any  other  book,  but  the 
Christian  feels  besides  a  response  in  his  heart  to  all  that 
the  Bible  says.  In  order  to  understand  the  Bible,  we  do 
not  need  a  new  Bible,  but  new  hearts ;  we  do  not  need 
God  to  add  a  commentary  to  what  he  has  written,  but  to 
give  us  new  and  clearer  vision,  that  looking  at  it  in  the 
light  of  his  countenance,  we  may  see  in  it  the  features  of 
our  Father,  and  in  ourselves  the  simplicity,  the  confidence, 
and  the  peace  of  children.  Very  soon  its  pages  will  be 
spread  out  in  everlasting  sunshine,  the  map  and  the  land 
it  delineates  lying  before  us. 


360 


LECTUKE  XXII. 

THE   MIDNIGHT   CRT. 

Then  shall  the  kingdom  of  heaven  he  likened  unto  ten  virgins,  which  took  their 
lamps,  and  went  forth  to  meet  the  bridegroom.  And  five  of  them  were  wise, 
and  five  were  foolish.  They  that  were  foolish  took  their  lamps,  and  took  no 
oil  with  them :  but  the  wise  took  oil  in  their  vessels  with  their  lamps.  While 
the  bridegroom  tarried,  they  all  slumbered  and  slept  And  at  midnight  there 
was  a  cry  made,  Behold,  the  bridegroom  cometh ;  go  ye  out  to  meet  him. 
Then  all  those  virgins  arose,  and  trimmed  their  lamps.  And  the  foolish  said 
unto  the  wise,  Give  us  of  your  oil;  for  our  lamps  are  gone  out.  But  the  wise 
answered,  saying,  Not  so;  lest  there  be  not  enough  for  us  and  you:  but  go 
ye  rather  to  them  that  sell,  and  buy  for  yourselves.  And  while  they  went  to 
buy,  the  bridegroom  came ;  and  they  that  were  ready  went  in  with  him  to 
the  marriage :  and  the  door  was  shut.  Afterward  came  also  the  other  vir- 
gins, saying,  Lord,  Lord,  open  to  us.  But  he  answered  and  said,  Verily  I  say 
unto  you,  I  know  you  not  Watch  therefore,  for  ye  know  neither  the  day  nor  " 
the  hour  wherein  the  Son  of  man  cometh. — MATT.  xxv.  1-13. 

EVERY  one  who  is  at  all  conversant  with  the  peculiar 
language  used  in  Scripture,  will  understand  the  nature  and 
the  reference  of  the  parable,  which  is  here  so  beautifully 
told.  Christ  is  repeatedly  represented,  especially  in  the 
Apocalypse,  as  well  as  in  Isaiah,  and  in  the  Gospels  them- 
selves, as  the  Bridegroom  ;  and  his  church  as  the  waiting, 
redeemed,  and  adopted  bride.  The  picture  which  is  here 
given,  is  drawn,  of  course,  from  an  Eastern  and  an  ancient 
marriage.  Such  marriages  were  always  celebrated  in  the 
evening,  or  at  night;  and  the  practice  was  for  the  bride- 
groom, accompanied  by  his  friends,  or,  as  they  are  called 
in  the  gospel,  "the  friends  of  the  bridegroom,"  to  go  to 
the  house  of  the  bride,  and  bring  her,  accompanied  by  her 
friends,  in  pomp,  and  majesty,  and  glory,  home.  Some  of 


THE    MIDNIGHT   CRY.  301 

her  friends  accompanied  her  from  her  own  house,  while 
others  waited  at  a  convenient  place,  in  order  to  join  the 
procession,  and  add  to  its .  splendour  and  to  their  own 
happiness.  The  ten  virgins  here  mentioned,  are  not  those 
that  accompanied  the  bride  from  her  own  house,  but  those 
who  were  waiting  at  some  convenient,  central  place,  watch- 
ing till  the  procession  should  emerge  from  below  the  hori- 
zon and  approach,  when  they  would  fall  in  and  join  it,  and 
be  admitted  to  the  festival  then  celebrated,  with  the  bride- 
groom and  the  bride,  and  their  common  or  mutual  friends. 

It  is  also  very  important  to  notice,  that  no  one  figure  in 
Scripture  exhausts  the  meaning  of  divine  and  spiritual 
things.  It  is  plain,  that  the  bride  is  properly  Christ's 
redeemed  church,  and  the  five  wise  virgins  would  seem  in 
this  parable  to  be  distinct  personages,  but  really  and  truly 
they  are  a  portion,  if  I  may  use  the  expression,  of  the 
bride,  or  the  redeemed,  holy,  adopted  company,  who  are 
making  ready  for  the  advent  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ; 
and  it  is  only  the  necessity  of  the  thing,  or  the  poverty 
of  human  speech,  and  the  inability  of  the  human  mind  to 
grasp  two  or  three  ideas  at  once,  that  renders  it  necessary 
that  there  should  be  this  apparent  division. 

These  ancient  marriages,  as  I  have  mentioned,  were 
celebrated  at  night,  and  lamps,  or,  as  it  should  rather  be 
translated,  "torches,"  were  necessarily  carried.  There 
seems  at  first  a  sort  of  difficulty  here,  because  if  these 
were  lamps  or  hollow  vessels,  like  the  old  Roman  clay 
lamps,  they  must  have  had  oil  to  burn  at  all;  but  the 
truth  is,  they  were  not  so ;  they  were  torches,  which  were 
composed  of  linen,  or  lint,  or  other  substance,  which  of 
itself  burned,  but  required  to  be  supplied'  from  another 
vessel  with  oil  in  order  to  make  the  burning  bright  and 
permanent.  Hence  it  is  said  that  some  took  their  lamps, 
and  took  no  oil  with  them ;  but  in  the  4th  verse  it  is  said, 

II.  SER.  31 


362  FORESHADOWS. 

that  the  wise  took  oil  in  their  vessels  with  their  lamps ; 
showing  that  the  oil  was  in  another  vessel,  and  not  in  the 
lamp  itself.  Thus,  if  we  suppose  that  they  were  torches, 
they  would  burn  for  five  or  ten  minutes  without  any  oil  at 
all,  but  unless  supplied  with  oil  from  the  lamp  that  ac- 
companied them,  they  would  soon  go  out.  We  can  then 
understand  some  of  the  torches  expiring  just  when  they 
were  wanted,  and  the  others  burning  because  fed  with  the 
means  of  burning — namely,  oil. 

The  names  applied  to  these  virgins  are  frequently  used 
in  Scripture  to  describe  what  Christians  should  be.  In  2 
Cor.  xi.  2,  the  apostle  uses  this  image  to  describe  the  peo- 
ple of  God,  when  he  says,  "For  I  am  jealous  over  you  with 
godly  jealousy ;  for  I  have  espoused  you  to  one  husband, 
thaf  I  may  present  you  as  a  chaste  virgin  to  Christ" — one 
separated  from  all  subordinate  earthly  and  inferior  attach- 
ments, and  devoted  with  the  whole  heart  and  soul  to  one, 
even  to  Christ :  not  those  who  are  so  in  the  light  of  the 
Church  of  Rome  ;  for  I  need  not  say  it  is  perfectly  possible 
to  be  a  Romish  nun  and  not  to  be  a  Christian  virgin ;  it 
is  perfectly  possible  to  be  mechanically  separated  from  the 
world,  and  to  be  morally  plunged  in  the  very  depths  of  all 
its  sympathies,  its  cares,  its  passions,  its  prejudices,  and 
its  anxieties.  The  purity  is  in  the  affections,  the  separation 
is  in  the  heart ;  the  devotion  to  Christ  is  not  by  dwelling 
in  cloisters,  but  by  being  in  the  world,  and  yet  not  of  it ; 
by  discharging  manfully  all  its  duties,  but  having  our  heart 
and  our  treasure  with  Christ,  where  our  treasure  alone 
should  be. 

The  number  of  the  virgins  is  stated  to  be  ten.  The 
reason  of  this  number  being  given  is  probably  this  :  It  was 
a  law  in  the  ancient  Mischnas,  and  Gemaras,  and  regula- 
tions of  the  Jews,  that  wherever  there  were  ten  Jews,  there 
a  synagogue  should  be  built ;  and  this  explains  very  beau- 


THE   MIDNIGHT   CRY.  ^  363 

tifully  the  condescending  mercy  in  the  remark  of  our  Lord, 
"  Wheresoever  [not,  as  in  the  old  law,  ten  Jews  are  met 
together,there  shall  be  a  synagogue,  but  wheresoever]  two 
or  three  are  met  together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the 
midst  of  them."  As  the  imagery  is  Jewish,  the  number 
ten  is  Jewish  also. 

Having  made  these  preliminary  explanations  on  the 
structure  and  the  imagery  of  the  parable,  let  us  endeavour 
to  draw  from  it  the  lessons  which  it  seems  so  well  fitted 
to  teach. 

First  of  all  we  perceive  that  all  the  ten  expected  the 
bridegroom ;  all  the  ten  professed  the  same  creed,  joined 
in  the  same  communion,  constituted,  to  the  outward  eye, 
the  same  consecrated,  devoted,  and  holy  company;  but  we 
read  that  they  were  distinguished  in  the  sight  of  God — • 
and  they  were  shown  to  be  distinct  in  the  evolution  of 
their  history — into  two  contrasting  classes  ;  outwardly  the 
same,  inwardly  perfectly  separate.  The  first  class  were 
wise,  and  the  second  foolish.  We  have  an  analogous  use 
of  these  words  in  the  reference  to  the  two  men — the  wise 
man  that  built  his  house  upon  the  rock,  and  the  foolish 
man  that  built  his  house  upon  the  sand.  They  are  the 
wise,  who  seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  right- 
eousness, that  all  other  things  may  be  added ;  and  they 
are  the  foolish,  who  seek  other  things,  and  miss  both  them 
and  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness  too. 

Yet  this  is  not  a  distinction  of  the  head,  but  a  distinc- 
tion of  the  heart ;  it  is  not  that  the  one  was  deficient  in 
intellect,  and  the  other  abounded  in  it ;  but  that  the  one 
had  a  deficiency  which  was  moral  and  spiritual,  and  the 
other  an  excellency  which  was  spiritual,  permanent,  and 
saving.  The  Church  of  Rome  in  commenting  upon  this 
parable  alleges,  that  the  deficiency  of  the  foolish  virgins 
was  that  they  had  faith  without  works,  and  that  this  was 


364  FORESHADOWS. 

the  reason  why  their  lamps  went  out,  and  they  were  called 
foolish.  But  this  seems  absurd.  I  do  not  helieve  that 
there  is  such  a  thing  possible  as  faith  without  works ; 
there  may  be  a  faith  called  so  by  man  without  works, 
but  not  real  faith.  We  might  as  well  speak  of  the  sun 
without  light,  of  a  fire  without  heat,  as  of  faith  without 
works.  A  faith  without  works  is  not  faith,  but  absolute 
faithlessness,  incredulity,  and  unbelief.  Wherever  there 
is  living  faith  planted  by  the  Spirit  of  God  in  a  living  and 
regenerated  heart,  there  there  is  a  spring,  a  fountain,  a 
source  of  whatsoever  things  are  pure,  and  just,  and  honest, 
and  lovely,  and  of  good  report.  Then  it  may  be  asked, 
What  is  it  that  they  were  deficient  in  ?  I  answer,  the 
five  foolish  virgins  were  those  who  had  the  form  of  religion, 
and  the  five  wise  virgins  were  those  who  had  the  form  and 
the  life  of  religion  too :  the  five  foolish  were  they  who 
were  baptized  from  the  same  font,  who  sat  at  the  same 
table,  who  read  the  same  Bible,  joined  in  the  same  worship, 
wore  outwardly  the  same  aspect,  but  had  nothing  within, 
the  counterpart  of  that  which  was  without :  in  other  words, 
they  had  the  form  of  godliness  in  all  its  perfection,  but 
they  were  destitute  of  its  power:  they  had  lamps  ex- 
quisitely chased,  made  of  valuable  material,  beautifully 
bright  and  burnished,  but  there  was  no  oil ;  they  had  the 
outward  form,  they  had  nothing  of  the  inward  grace. 
Hence  those  foolish  virgins  might  be  likened  to  those  who 
love  the  poetry  and  are  charmed  with  the  eloquence  of  the 
Bible,  but  who  have  no  deep  and  responsive  sympathy  with 
its  spiritual,  its  holy,  and  its  sanctifying  truths.  They 
are  represented  by  those  who  have  a  beautiful  form,  and 
are  enthusiastically  attached  to  that  form,  but  have  no 
under-current  of  genuine,  spiritual,  and  living  devotion ; 
or  those  who  cleave  to  Christianity  for  its  temporary 
beneficence ;  who  arc  the  advocates  of  schools  because 


THE   MIDNIGHT   CRY.  305 

they  keep  down  criminals,  and  so  preserve  the  great  houses 
secure  from  the  assaults  of  the  poor,  the  degraded,  and 
the  miserable  ones ;  they  are  those  who  advocate  missions 
and  missionary  societies,  not  because  they  go  forth  to  save 
souls,  but  because  they  are  fitted  to  civilize  distant  lands, 
keep  the  colonies  quiet,  and  bring  a  richer  revenue  and 
larger  taxes  to  the  parent  country ;  those,  in  other  words, 
who  are  outwardly  all  that  constitutes  the  Christian,  in- 
wardly nothing  at  all ;  they  have  lamps  very  beautiful,  but 
they  have  this  condemning  deficiency — there  is  no  oil  in 
them.  We  have  instances  of  such  characters  in  the  Scrip- 
tures. Simon  Magus  was  baptized,  professed  Christianity, 
had  the  form  of  godliness,  but  was  in  the  gall  of  bitterness 
and  in  the  bond  of  iniquity.  Ananias  and  Sapphira  ap- 
peared devout,  charitable,  self-sacrificing,  but  yet  they 
perished  in  their  sins,  from  the  presence  of  the  people  of 
God.  And  so  there  are  still,  in  every  section  of  the 
church,  persons  who  are  constant  in  the  observance  of 
every  rite  and  ceremony,  who  are  rigid  exactors  of  con- 
formity to  every  ecclesiastical  crotchet  which  they  may 
baptize  as  essential  and  vital.  They  are  those  who  prefer 
sacrifice  to  mercy,  ceremony  to  truth ;  who  make  the  ritual 
to  be  every  thing,  and  the  moral  to  be  comparatively  no- 
thing ;  who  speak  divine  words,  but  live  no  divine  life,  do 
not  justly,  nor  love  mercy,  nor  walk  humbly  with  their 
God;  the  men,  in  short,  who  do  penance,  but  do  not  re- 
pent ;  who  macerate  the  flesh,  but  do  not  mortify  its  lusts ; 
who  would  fight  for  a  church,  a  party,  or  a  sect,  but  follow 
not  Jesus  either  in  the  beauty  of  his  character,  in  the 
preciousness  of  his  sacrifice,  or  in  the  splendour  of  the 
hopes  that  he  teaches.  These  men  have  a  light  indeed, 
but  it  is  the  phosphorescence  of  decay,  not  the  light  of 
truth ;  they  have  a  glory  indeed,  but  it  is  the  evanescence 
without  the  brilliancy  of  the  meteor,  not  the  calm  progress 

31* 

•I 


366  FORESHADOWS. 

of  the  ascending  sun ;  they  own  Christ  to  be  "Lord,  Lord," 
they  have  known  him  to  be  King,  and  Head,  and  Sove- 
reign ;  they  bow  the  knee  at  his  name,  and  wind  up  their 
prayers  with  "for  his  sake,"  and  yet  do  not  those  things 
which  he  has  commanded.  Such  are  they  .that  have  the 
form  without  its  power,  who  have  lamps  in  their  hands — 
making  the  world  believe  that  they  are  Christians — but 
who  have  no  oil  to  feed  them ;  proving  before  God  that 
they  are  not  Christians  at  all.  Such  ever  has  been,  and 
such  is  still  the  composition  of  the  visible  chur.ch.  We 
never  ought  to  lose  sight  of  this — that  the  visible  church  is 
made  up  of  those  who  have  lamps ;  but  within  it — in  its 
core  and  sheltered  by  it — are  those  who  have  lamps,  and 
who  have,  in  addition  to  their  lamps,  oil  also.  Hence  the 
visible  church  is  composed,  as  we  saw  in  one  parable,  of 
the  tares  and  the  wheat ;  and  as  in  another  parable,  of 
good  fishes  and  bad ;  or,  as  we  see  in  this  parable,  of  those 
who  have  lamps,  and  those  who  have  lamps  and  oil  too ; 
those  that  bow  the  knee,  and  those  that  bow  the  heart 
also ;  those  that  have  devout  countenances,  and  those  that 
have  devotional  hearts  too ;  those  that  are  of  Israel,  as  all 
are,  and  those  who  are  Israel,  as  only  the  comparatively 
few  are.  Thus  the  visible  church  is  a  mixed  company ; 
to  man's  eye,  all  look  equally  good  ;  to  God's  eye,  the  one 
class  is  perfectly  distinguished  from  the  other.  We  see 
thus  how  they  all  profess  the  same  name,  they  all  are  look- 
ing for  the  same  advent,  and  all,  in  their  way,  getting 
ready  for  that  glorious  advent. 

"The  bridegroom,"  we  read  in  the  parable,  "tarried." 
What  is  meant  by  this  ?  He  did  not  really  tarry.  God 
has  fixed  the  hour  of  the  Saviour's  advent ;  nothing  can 
postpone  it,  nothing  can  anticipate  it.  He  that  shall  come, 
we  are  told,  will  come,  and  will  not  tarry.  And  the  reason 
why  it  is  said  that  he  tarries  is,  that  he  seemed  to  them  to 


THE   MIDNIGHT   CRY.  367 

tarry:  they  had  prayed  for  his  advent ;  he  came  not  at  the 
time  they  expected ;  therefore  they  believed  that  he  tar- 
ried. Of  that  day  and  hour,  we  are  told,  knoweth  no  man ; 
but  unto  them  that  look  for  him,  he  will  come  the  second 
time  without  sin  unto  salvation.  Perhaps  these  two  classes 
of  virgins  represent  the  two  classes  spoken  of  by  the  apos- 
tle— namely,  some  serving  the  Lord,  praying  "  thy  king- 
dom come,"  waiting  for  the  Son  from  heaven  ;  and  another 
class  who  say,  "Where  is  the  promise  of  his  coming?  For 
since  the  fathers  fell  asleep,  all  things  continue  as  they 
were  from  the  beginning  of  creation." 

It  is  recorded,  in  the  next  place,  of  the  whole  of  the 
virgins,  that  "  they  all  slumbered  and  slept."  "When  the 
bridegroom  tarried  [or  seemed  to  them  to  tarry]  they  all 
slumbered  and  slept."  It  is  to  be  observed  here,  that  this 
is  the. character,  in  this  instance,  of  all  the  people  of  God, 
as  well  as  of  those  who  were  not  so.  It  is  not  said  with 
approbation  that  they  all  slept ;  it  is  simply  stated  as  a 
matter  of  fact ;  it  is  not  said  that  God  applauded  the 
sleeping  of  the  wise,  or  of  the  foolish;  it  is  merely  re- 
corded as  an  historical  fact ;  and  we  know  that  the  hearts 
of  believers  may  be  overcome  with  the  cares  of  this  world. 
If  they  were  not  liable  to  be  overcome,  why  those  constant 
warnings  that  they  should  watch  and  pray,  lest  they  fall 
into  temptation  ?  It  was  the  sin  of  the  five  wise  virgins 
that  they  slept ;  it  was  their  mercy  that  they  were  ulti- 
mately awakened  in  time.  The  sleeping  of  the  five  wise 
virgins  was  inconsistency,  the  sleeping  of  the  five  foolish 
virgins  was  downright  apostasy:  the  one  was  a  sleep  that 
was  startled  by  the  rush  of  the  approaching  wheels  of 
the  chariot  of  the  Lord,  and  they  that  slumbered  were 
awakened — and  all  was  ready ;  the  sleep  of  the  others  was 
that  of  the  world,  which  was  startled  by  the  same  sound, 
but  was  followed  by  no  fitness  for  entering  in  to  the  festi- 


368  FORESHADOWS. 

vities  of  the  bride  and  the  bridegroom.  Let  us  cast  off 
the  works  of  darkness,  and  put  on  the  armour  of  light. 
Let  us  not  sleep  as  the  world,  but  watch  and  be  sober. 

We  next  hear,  that  while  they  all  slumbered  and  slept 
(or,  as  it  might  be  translated,  "nodded  and  slept")  the 
midnight  came,  and  yet  the  bridegroom  had  not  arrived. 
At  last  there  was  a  cry  made,  "Behold,  the  bridegroom 
cometh."  This  cry  was  raised  not  by  the  bridegroom 
himself,  but  by  the  parties  that  saw  him  coming  from  afar. 
Parties  who  had  no  lot,  or  interest,  or  share  in  that  festival 
— parties  who  were  disconnected  with  it — may  have  raised 
the  shout,  "Behold,  the  bridegroom  cometh:"  it  was  not 
the  bridegroom's  voice.  And  so  when  Christ  comes  the 
second  time,  there  will  precede  his  advent  a  cry  loudening, 
and  growing  in  fervour,  in  force,  and  in  strength,  "Behold, 
the  bridegroom  cometh !"  And  it  does  seem  to  me  that 
that  cry  is  now  heard.  What  is  meant  by  the  intense  in- 
terest tljat  is  now  felt  in  the  study  of  prophecy — intenser 
than  has  been  felt  for  the  last  eighteen  centuries  ?  What 
is  meant  by  the  fact  that  people  will  read  on  that  subject 
now,  who  looked  upon  it  with  contemptuous  scorn  a  few 
years  ago  ?  What  is  meant  by  that  rending  and  splitting 
of  the  whole  social  economy  around  us  ?  We  cannot  open 
a  paper,  we  cannot  hear  the  opinion  of  a  statesman  or  a 
politician,  without  being  told  that  the  aspect  of  the  world 
at  this  moment  is  more  ominous,  more  terrible,  more  ap- 
palling, than  it  was  twelve,  or  six,  or  eight  months  ago. 
What  is  meant  by  that  deep  sensation  of  coining  dread — 
that  failure  of  men's  hearts,  that  fear  of  things  coming  on 
the  earth,  shattered  colonies,  ruined  estates,  desolated  pro- 
perty, all  spots,  except  our  own  little  island  on  the  bosom 
of  the  deep,  convulsed,  agitated,  rocked,  unsettled  ?  I 
believe  the  shout  that  comes  from  it  all  is,  "  The  bride- 
groom cometh."  There  is  never  a  voice  from  heaven  that 


THE   MIDNIGHT   CRY.  369 

has  not  its  echo  on  earth.  Few  can  fail  to  notice  the  fact, 
that  in  increasing  numbers  of  pulpits  this  cry  is  heard, 
and  from  various  places  this  intimation  IS'  audibly  uttered. 
It  does  appear  to  me,  that  a  voice  like  that  premonitory 
cry  which  preceded  the  advent  of  Christ  to  suffer,  is  now 
heard  in  many  lands,  and  from  many  preachers.  At  all 
events  we  may  learn  this :  if  all  cannot  accept  the  chro- 
nology or  the  auguries  of  others,  all  are  bound  at  least  to 
accept  the  duty  that  the  Scripture  enjoins,  "Watch  and 
pray,  lest  ye  enter  into  temptation."  Let  us  not  sleep  as 
do  others,  but  let  us  watch  and  be  sober.  The  bridegroom 
cometh.  It  is  not  said,  the  bridegroom  will  come,  but  the 
bridegroom  cometh.  His  footsteps  are  heard,  the  voice  of 
his  approach  is  audible. 

When  this  was  told  to  the  virgins,  they  arose,  both  the 
wise  and  the  foolish,  and  trimmed  their  lamps ;  that  is,  as 
they  were  in  darkness,  each  had  recourse  to  that  which 
was  fitted  to  give  light,  and  conduct  them  safely  to  the 
home  and  festival  of  the  bridegroom.  The  foolish  had  re- 
course to  their  lamps,  but  discovered  that  they  were  empty ; 
the  wise  had  recourse  to  theirs,  and  found  that  they  burned, 
though  they  had  gone  out,  or  had  nearly  gone  out,  as  they 
had  plenty  of  oil  to  recruit  and  restore  them.  The  wise 
virgins  found  that  they  had  life,  and  a  fountain  of  it ;  the 
foolish  virgins  discovered  that  their  piety  was  all  preten- 
sion, that  their  religion  was  but  an  outward  mask,  that 
their  godliness  was  but  the  form  without  the  power,  that 
their  Christianity  was  but  a  name,  while  they  themselves 
were  dead  in  trespasses  and  in  sin.  What  an  awful  dis- 
covery to  make  at  that  day ! — when  the  darkness  shall  be 
densest,  how  terrible  to  find  that  we  have  no  light ;  when 
our  need  shall  be  sorest,  to  feel  that  we  have  nothing  to 
sustain  and  to  comfort  us ;  when  a  .Saviour's  blood  shall 
be  felt  to  be  the  only  element  that  can  give  peace,  and 


370  FORESHADOWS. 

pardon,  and  happiness,  to  find  that  we  have  trusted  to  our 
own  works,  or  to  our  own  forms,  or  to  our  own  ceremonies 
— in  short,  to  a  name  by  which  we  lived  right  honourably 
upon  earth,  but  nothing  more. 

The  foolish  virgins  then  said,  "  Give  us  oil  for 
our  lamps,  for  they  are  gone  out."  This  expression, 
"gone  out,"  shows  that  their  lamps  had  burned  a  little; 
and  it  is  somewhat  analogous  to  the  statement  in  the 
parable  of  the  sower,  where  it  is  said,  that  the  seed  that 
was  cast  into  stony  ground  grew  up  speedily.  There  is  a 
progress  which  is  temporary,  and  a  progress  which  is  real ; 
there  is  a  devotion  which  is  fed  by  the  oil  of  grace,  and 
a  devotion  which  is  fed  from  the  manufactory  of  man's 
own  heart.  For  instance,  who  can  deny  that  in  the 
Church  of  Rome,  among  Mohammedans,  and  among  Hin- 
doos, there  is  devotion — intense  devotion,  concentrated 
worship,  men  that  feel  profoundly,  and  express  feelings 
of  adoration  with  intense  and  expressive  language  ?  But 
what  is  its  defect  ?  That  it  is  a  flame  fed  by  wrong  oil,  it 
is  a  zeal  not  sustained  by  truth  and  holiness,  and  there- 
fore temporary ;  when  it  is  wanted  most,  then  it  is  found 
most  to  fail.  All  fanaticism  is  false  devotion,  kindled 
from  a  wrong  altar,  and  sustained  and  nourished  by  a  false 
element;  but  all  true  religion  is  kindled  from  the  true 
altar,  fed  by  holy  oil  that  will  not  expire  in  the  dampest 
dungeon,  or  fail  to  illuminate  by  its  imperishable  splen- 
dours the  world's  darkest  night.  When  the  virgins  said, 
"  Our  lamps  are  gone  out,"  they  asked  to  be  supplied  with 
more,  but  they  were  refused.  Their  lamps  went  out  when 
they  could  not  be  rekindled,  when  there  was  no  supply  of 
oil  to  be  had ;  they  turned  round,  therefore,  to  the  other 
virgins  who  had  oil,  and  said,  "  Give  us  of  your  oil."  I 
mentioned,  when  treating  of  the  parable  of  the  rich  man 
and  Lazarus,  that  we  had  there  an  instance  of  prayer  to 


THE   MIDNIGHT   CRY.  371 

saints — what  the  Roman  Catholic  church  contends  for — 
"Father  Abraham,  send  Lazarus  to  dip  his  finger  in  the 
water  and  cool  my  tongue,  parched  in  this  flame."  But  I 
stated  that  it  was  an  unanswered  prayer,  and  therefore 
not  a  happy  precedent  for  such  a  practice.  So  here  we 
have  an  instance  of  prayer  to  saints.  The  five  foolish 
virgins  prayed  to  the  five  wise,  and  asked  of  their  oil,  but 
they  met  with  a  denial,  and  for  a  very  obvious  reason — 
there  is  no  borrowing  of  grace ;  you  may  borrow  a  man's 
money,  but  you  cannot  borrow  a  Christian's  grace.  We 
can  tell  people,  as  these  virgins  did,  "  Go  and  buy  of  those 
that  have  it  to  sell ;"  we  may  tell  the  person  that  wants 
grace  where  it  is  to  be  had,  we  may  direct  him  to  the 
fountain  out  of  which  he  may  draw ;  but  no  priest  or 
person,  no  minister  or  man  of  any  denomination  or  class 
whatever,  can  communicate  grace ;  the  Lord  the  Spirit 
alone  can  bestow  it. 

These  virgins,  we  are  told,  gave  as  a  reason  why  they 
did  not  lend  their  oil,  "Not  so,  lest  there  be  not  enough 
for  us  and  for  you."  There  are  no  works  of  supereroga- 
tion ;  no  Christian  has  more  grace  than  he  wants  ;  no  man 
has  more  religion  than  he  can  make  use  of;  and  we  shall 
find  in  the  judgment-day,  that  when  our  attainments  have 
been  greatest,  and  our  progress  in  Christianity  has  been 
most  advanced,  we  have  yet  much  to  deplore  and  more  to 
be  forgiven,  and  that  we  have  nothing  whatever  to  spare. 
But  blessed  be  God,  if  we  cannot  spare  the  grace  he  has 
given,  or  communicate  that  grace  to  others,  we  may  direct 
others  to  the  fountain  where  it  may  be  had  freely,  without 
money  and  without  price. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  the  five  foolish  virgins  obeyed  the 
advice  of  the  five  wise  ones,  and  went  to  see  if  they  could 
buy  oil ;  but  we  read  in  the  10th  verse,  "while  they  went 
to  buy,  the  bridegroom  canie."  It  does  not  say  that  they 


372  FORESHADOWS. 

succeeded,  but  the  contrary.  "  While  they  went  to  buy, 
the  bridegroom  came,  and  they  that  were  ready  went  in  with 
him  to  the  marriage;  and  the  door  was  shut."  There  i.s 
no  forgiveness  to  be  had  at  the  judgment-day,  the  throne 
of  grace  is  superseded  by  the  throne  of  judgment,  the 
cross  is  then  vailed,  the  fountain  for  uncleanness  is  then 
sealed,  the  sun  of  grace  has  then  set.  We  have  to  deal 
at  a  judgment-seat  with  principles  of  strict  justice — no 
longer  to  pray  to  an  Advocate  upon  the  mercy-seat  for 
forgiveness  and  remission  of  sins ;  the  night  has  then 
come,  when  no  man  can  buy,  or  work,  or  pray.  How 
infinitely,  how  intensely  important  is  it,  that  now,  in  the 
accepted  time — now,  while  the  light  shines — now,  while 
the  offers  of  the  gospel  are  made — now,  while  the  greatest 
sinner  may  be  accepted,  and  the  greatest  sin  forgiven — 
that  our  hearts  should,  while  that  monosyllabic  "now" 
measures  the  duration  of  our  privileges,  ask  oil  to  feed 
us,  and  grace  to  help  us,  and  mercy  to  forgive  us  in  this 
our  time  of  need  ! 

The  bride,  we  are  told,  was  ready  and  went  in.  How 
beautifully  does  she  sing  in  Isaiah,  "  I  will  greatly  rejoice 
in  the  Lord;  my  soul  shall  be  joyful  in  my  God  ;  he  hath 
clothed  me  with  garments  of  salvation  ;  he  hath  covered 
me  with  robes  of  righteousness  !"  And  how  beautifully 
is  the  picture  exhibited  in  the  45th  Psalm,  "  Hearken,  0 
daughter,  and  consider,  and  incline  thine  ear ;  forget  also 
thine  own  people,  and  thy  father's  house  ;  so  shall  the  king 
greatly  desire  thy  beauty ;  for  he  is  thy  Lord,  and  worship 
thou  him.  And  the  daughter  of  Tyre  shall  be  there  with  a 
gift;  even  the  rich  among  the  people  shall  entreat  thy 
favour.  The  king's  daughter  is  all  glorious  within." 
Her  beauty  is  not  an  outward  splendour  that  man  can 
create,  and  that  man's  eye  can  see,  but  an  inner  glory,  a 
moral  and  spiritual  beauty,  which  God  alone  can  com- 


THE    MIDNIGHT   CRY.  373 

municate,  and  which  is  foolishness  to  the  natural  man. 
"  She  shall  be  brought  unto  the  king  in  raiment  of  needle- 
work :  the  virgins  her  companions  that  follow  her  [here 
are  the  five  wise  virgins]  shall  be  brought  unto  thee. 
With  gladness  and  rejoicing  shall  they  be  brought :  they 
shall  enter  into  the  king's  palace.  ['  They  that  were  ready 
entered  in.']  Instead  of  thy  fathers  shall  be  thy  children, 
whom  thou  inayest  make  princes  in  all  the  earth.  I  will 
make  thy  name  to  be  remembered  in  all  generations  : 
therefore  shall  the  people  praise  thee  for  ever  and  ever." 
It  is  added,  that  when  the  bride  had  thus  made  herself 
ready,  as  we  read  in  the  Apocalypse,  and  the  five  wise 
virgins  had  been  admitted  to  join  in  the  festival  or 
marriage  feast,  "  the  door  was  shut."  What  door  ?  That 
door  that  has  now  engraved  on  its  lintels,  "  Him  that 
cometh  unto  me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out;"  that  door 
which  is  now  open,  and  so  wide  that  the  greatest  sinner 
may  enter,  and  yet  so  holy  that  no  sin  shall  be  tolerated 
within  it — that  door  by  Avhich  Ahaz  entered  after  his 
idolatry,  David  after  his' adultery,  Peter  after  his  denial, 
Paul  after  his  sanguinary  persecutions — that  door  through 
which  men  shall  come  from  the  east  and  the  west,  from 
the  north  and  from  the  south,  having  no  claim  but  sin, 
and  no  merit  but  Christ's  righteousness — that  door  now 
open  for  all,  from  which  there  is  no  exclusion  of  colour,  or 
sect,  or  party,  or  people ;  by  which  there  is  admission  for 
the  greatest  criminal,  and  forgiveness  for  the  greatest  sin ; 
into  which,  and  through  which,  a  Magdalene's  first  tear,  a 
penitent's  deep  cry,  and  a  criminal's  last  breath  may  find 
admittance — that  door  now  so  wide,  so  open,  so  free,  into 
Avhich  a  thousand  impulses  drive  you,  and  to  which  a 
thousand  sweet  voices  draw  you — that  door  into  which  the 
whole  of  Europe  is  now  invited  to  enter,  and  all  flesh  to 
taste  of  the  salvation  of  our  God — that  door  was  then 

II.  SER.  32 


374  FORESHADOWS. 

shut ;  shut  for  the  safety  of  those  that  are  within,  for  the 
punishment  of  those  that  are  without ;  a  door  that  shall 
never  again  move  upon  its  hinges  to  admit  any  that  are 
•without,  or  to  let  out  any  that  are  within. 

This  is  the  true  way  of  preaching  the  grace  of  God. 
I  grieve  to  hear  that  many  are  beginning  at  the  wrong 
end,  trying  to  make  it  out  that  there  is  no  eternal  punish- 
ment to  come — trying,  in  short,  to  lighten  the  darkness 
of  hell,  to  mitigate  its  torments,  and  say  its  fire  does  fade, 
and  its  worm  does  die,  that  its  darkness  is  not  for  ever, 
and  its  torment  is  not  eternal.  If,  instead  of  wasting  their 
eloquence  in  diluting  God's  truth,  they  would  only  expend 
their  eloquence  in  showing  how  wide,  how  open,  how  free, 
how  accessible  the  door  of  the  Saviour's  sacrifice  and  me- 
diation is,  it  would  be  much  better ;  it  would  be  true,  and 
therefore  it  would  be  best ;  for  we  may  depend  upon  it, 
the  more  that  we  study  what  the  gospel  is — the  more  that 
one  sees  how  complete  salvation  is,  how  free,  how  full ; 
the  more  that  one  thinks  of  this — that  there  is  not  one 
soul  in  London  that  perishes  for  any  other  reason  upon 
earth,  than  that  that  soul  will  not  be  saved ;  the  less  one 
wonders  that  an  apostle  should  say,  If  any  man  love  not 
such  a  Saviour,  so  freely  offered,  let  him  be  anathema. 
I  do  believe  that  the  cause  of  many  of  our  misgivings  and 
disquietude,  and  doubts,  and  perplexities,  is  that  we  do  not 
see,  as  I  think  I  do  see,  how  large  is  the  mercy,  how  open 
the  bosom,  how  sympathizing  the  heart,  how  earnest  the 
reiterated  welcome  and  the  invitation  of  our  Father  and 
our  God.  What  is  the  gospel  ?  Good  news.  What  are 
the  good  news  ?  Not  that  you  are  to  do  something,  or  to 
bear  something,  or  to  pay  something,  but  simply  that  you 
are  to  believe,  "  Christ  died  for  the  chiefcst  sinner,  and 
Avhy  not  for  me  ?"  Not  "  why  for  me  ?"  but  "  why  not  for 
me?  Am  I  to  be  excluded?  And  if  so,  why?"  There  is 


THE   MIDNIGHT   CRY.  375 

no  reason  in  the  universe,  in  God ;  the  only  reason  is  in 
the  creature  rejecting,  doubting,  disbelieving  the  great 
message  of  everlasting  love  and  forgiving  mercy  for  every 
sinner  that  seeks  it,  in  the  name  and  through  the  mediation 
of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

The  foolish  virgins,  we  read,  having  failed  to  obtain  oil 
from  the  wise  virgins,  and  finding  the  door  unexpectedly 
shut,  made  an  appeal  for  its  being  reopened ;  they  prayed 
earnestly  to  the  wise,  but  prayed  without  receiving  any 
reply.  Like  the  sailors,  they  had  lost  the  tide ;  like  the 
husbandmen,  they  had  lost  the  spring ;  like  the  labourers, 
they  idled  all  the  day,  and  the  night  was  come  when  they 
could  not  work.  And  now  in  their  desperation,  indicated 
by  the  repetition,  they  cry,  "Lord,  Lord,  open  unto  us — 
us,  who  have  professed  they  name,  who  have  done  so  many 
things  in  that  name ;  us,  who  gave  liberally  to  missions ; 
who  were  the  advocates  of  Bible  Societies  ;  who  never 
stopped  away  from  church  because  of  a  wet  day,  and  never 
were  absent  from  our  pew  because  of  a  severe  or  a  stormy 
one  ;  who  have  had  every  thing  perfect,  our  lamps  beauti- 
ful, their  shape  uninjured,  their  brilliancy  as  when  they 
were  first  made — Lord,  Lord,  open  unto  us."  Once  their 
prayer  was  a  form,  now  it  is  a  reality ;  it  was  not  heard 
when  it  was  a  form,  because  it  was  a  form  ;  it  is  not  heard 
now,  Avhen  it  is  a  reality,  because  the  Mediator's  censer 
has  been  laid  aside,  and  the  books  have  been  opened,  and 
the  judgment  throne  is  set,  and  the  day  of  grace  has 
passed  away.  How  many  will  be  at  that  door  likewise, 
saying,  «  Lord,  Lord,  open  us  !"  But  the  real  question  is, 
shall  we  be  outside  or  inside  ?  What  is  our  hope  ?  It  is 
possible  to  determine  now.  At  that  door,  but  outside,  will 
be  the  proud  Pharisee,  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  with  his 
broad  phylactery,  and  his  "  thank  God"  still  sounding  unto 
from  his  lips;  to  whom  the  Lord  will  say,  "  Depart  from 


376  FORESHADOWS. 

me,  I  know  thee  not."  There  too  will  be  the  haughty, 
proud,  exclusive,  and  anathematizing  Tractarian,  who  never 
violated  a  rubric  in  his  life,  who  performed  his  genuflexions 
with  the  most  excellent  beauty,  and  after  the  most  canon- 
ical prescription,  and  who  believed,  "  the  Church  of  God, 
the  church  of  God  are  we."  He  Avill  come  with  his  bright 
and  his  beautiful  lamp,  having  no  oil  in  it ;  and  he  too  will 
say,  "Lord,  Lord,  open  unto  us,  we  belong  to  the  true 
church;"  but  he  will  say,  "  Depart  from  me,  I  know  you 
not."  And  the  proud  pontiff  will  be  there,  who  held  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  at  his  girdle,  and  made 
saints  and  branded  sinners  at  his  will ;  he  will  come — the 
supposed  successor  of  Peter  himself — demanding  admission, 
not  begging  for  it ;  but  the  Lord  will  say  to  him,  "  I  know 
the  saints  you  have  murdered,  I  know  the  victims  that  have 
suffered  at  thy  hand,  but  you  I  know  not ;  depart  from 
me,  ye  that  work  iniquity."  And  there  too  will  be  the  ex- 
clusive, self-satisfied  man,  who  had  his  Shibboleth,  some 
favourite  word,  some  distinguishing  cry,  something  that 
made  him  to  differ  from  the  rest,  to  look  down  with  con- 
temptuous scorn  upon  all  who  could  not  repeat  his  Shib- 
boleth ;  he  too  will  be  there  with  his  bright  and  biirnished 
lamp,  seeking  admission :  as  such  he  will  not  be  known. 
Those  distinctions,  which  blaze  like  wild-fires  upon  the 
platforms  of  this  world,  are  not  known  there  ;  the  only 
ground  of  acceptance  at  that  day  will  be  that  of  those 
who  have  washed  their  robes  and  made  them  white  in  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb  ;  who  have  no  original  claim  but  this — 
that  they  have  been  the  chiefest  of  sinners  ;  and  who  have 
no  moral  claim  but  this — that  he  that  knew  no  sin  was 
made  sin  for  them,  that  they  might  be  made  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  by  him. 

The  midnight  cry  is  heard.      The  Bridegroom  cometh. 
Eighteen  centuries  which  have  cried  from  dens,  and  pri- 


THE   MIDNIGHT   CRY.  377 

|p' 

sons,  and  dungeons,  and  inquisitions,  and  banishments, 
and  fire,  and  peril,  and  sword,  "  Come,  Lord  Jesus,"  are 
about  to  receive  the  glad  response,  "Behold,  the  Bride- 
groom cometh."  He  comes  to  emancipate  the  slave, 
groaning  under  the  lash  of  the  so-called  Christian  slave- 
owner ;  he  comes  to  vindicate  the  rights  of  man,  to  re- 
dress the  wrongs  of  bleeding  and  oppressed  humanity ;  he 
comes  to  still  the  groans  of  this  world>  which  has  groaned 
and  travailed  in  faith  to  bring  nature  to  a  noble  birth ;  to 
bring  forth  that  for  which  nature  groans — a  glorious  king- 
dom, a  blessed  inheritance,  a  city  that  hath  a  foundation, 
whose  builder  and  maker  is  God ;  he  comes  to  restore  all 
that  has  been  ruined ;  he  comes  to  create  a  paradise  where 
a  paradise  was  lost ;  he  comes  to  lead  the  wolf  to  lie  down 
with  the  lamb,  and  the  leopard  to  lie  down  with  the  kid, 
to  make  the  wilderness  rejoice,  to  manifest  himself  to  the 
sons  of  God,  and  to  make  all  things  new ;  in  that  pierced 
hand  which  was  nailed  to  the  tree,  to  take  the  great  sceptre 
of  the  universe,  to  be  the  true  sea-lord  and  the  true  land- 
lord, and  to  take  away  from  nature  the 'ashen  garments 
she  has  worn  so  long,  and  clothe  her  in  her  Easter  robes, 
when  she  shall  be  brighter  than  at  first,  and  her  glory  sur- 
passing that  of  her  earliest  days. 

Do  we  not  see  multiplying  signs  of  his  coming?  I  have 
alluded  to  the  recent  state  of  Europe — Pope  Pius  IX.  not 
long  returned  from  his  exile ;  Rome  scarcely  having  ceased 
from  casting  its  beautiful  bells  into  cannon,  and  its  com- 
munion-plate into  scudi;  the  echoes  of  the  cannon-shot 
of  the  French  republic  rebounding  on  the  very  dome  of  St. 
Peter's  not  yet  hushed ;  the  nations  marching  upon  Rome, 
and  the  Russian  thundering  in  their  rear,  and  the  Romans 
thirsting  for  the  hour  of  retribution  and  vengeance ; — all 
tell  us  that  Babylon  begins  to  drink  her  judgment,  and  that 
the  Bridegroom  is  about  to  come.  Turkey,  like  a  poor 


378  FORESHADOWS. 

bird  in  tlie  talons  of  the  Russian  eagle,  quivprs,  bleeds, 
and  struggles  for  existence ;  and  gives  proof  that  the  waters 
of  the  great  Euphrates  are  about  to  dry  up  beneath  the 
footstep  of  the  advancing  autocrat,  and  no  less  clearly, 
that  the  Bridegroom  cometh.  The  Jews  still  sit  loose  to 
every  land,  driven  from  dissolving  dynasties  and  capitals, 
and  attest  that  the  only  country  in  which  they  get  kind- 
ness is  our  own ;  where  it  will  be  found,  I  believe,  that  just 
as  statesmen  have  admitted  them  to  a  place  in  our  parlia- 
ment, they  will  bid  our  statesmen  farewell,  and  hurry  home 
to  Palestine.  The  American  JCAVS  are  already  possessed 
of  a  hundred  thousand  pounds,  and  are  determined  to  raise 
it  to  a  million,  in  order,  as  Mr.  Noah  has  stated  publicly 
in  New  York,  to  build  a  temple  in  Jerusalem,  that  shall 
eclipse  Herod's  and  Solomon's  combined  in  grandeur  and 
magnificence.  All  Europe  rests  this  hour  on  a  volcano. 
The  last  coup-d'etat  of  Louis  Napoleon  increases,  not  less- 
ens, the  probability  of  the  impending  catastrophe.  Every 
capital,  from  Moscow  to  Madrid,  is  convulsed  and  heaving 
with  revolutionary  elements ;  Berlin,  Vienna,  Paris,  Venice 
— all  are  in  a  state  of  dissolution  and  disorganization. 
Why  are  kings  smitten  from  their  thrones?  In  order  to 
make  room  for  the  King  of  kings,  the  Prince  of  the  kings 
of  the  earth.  Why  was  Antichrist,  who  calls  himself  the 
bridegroom  of  the  church,  driven  from  his  capital?  To 
prove  that  the  true  Bridegroom  is  on  his  way,  and  how 
frail  the  power  of  the  pretender  is.  Why  are  the  bands 
of  society  burst,  and  the  bonds  of  churches  broken? — 
churches  torn  from  the  state,  and  the  state  torn  from  the 
churches  ?  Why  is  this  ?  It  is  the  proof  of  men  thirsting 
for  a  beauty,  a  perfection,  and  a  glory,  and  an  excellence, 
which  are  not  to  be  in  this  dispensation?  It  is  God's  true 
people  shaking  themselves  loose  from  all  restraints,  and 
tics,  arid  bonds,  and  making  ready  to  hail  the  advent  of 


THE   MIDNIGHT  CRY.  379 

that  Bridegroom,  for  -whom  the  widow's  broken  heart  and 
the  bride's  fainting  spirit  have  cried  so  long,  "Come,  Lord 
Jesus,  come  speedily."  The  presentiment  of  that  advent 
is  in  men's  hearts ;  the  foretokens  of  it  seem  to  be  visible 
on  man's  world.  At  all  events,  we  know  it  must  come — 
soon  it  will  come ;  and  whether  soon  or  late,  let  us  have 
our  lamps  trimmed,  oil  in  the  vessels,  our  loins  girded,  and 
be  ready  to  meet  him  when  he  comes.  "Blessed  are  they 
which  are  called  unto  the  marriage  supper  of  the  Lamb." 


THE   END. 


STEREOTYPED  BT  L.  JOHNSON  ft  CO. 
PHILADELPHIA. 


36lalviston, 


HA.TE    JUST     PUBLISHED 


THE  SEPULCHRES  OF  OUR  DEPARTED. 


REV.    F.    R.   ANSPACH,   A.M., 


H  A  G  E  R  S  T  O  W  N,     MARYLAND. 


As  flowers  which  night,  when  day  is  o'er,  perfume, 
Breathes  the  sweet  memory  from  a  good  man's  tomb. 
SIR  E.  B.  LYTTON. 


CONTENTS. 


Communion  with  the  Past. 

The  Sacredness  of  the  Sepulchre. 

Visits  to  the  Sepulchres  of  our  De- 
parted. 

Lessons  which  the  Sepulchre  im- 
parts. 

The  Glory  of  Man. 

In  the  Sepulchre  the  Conflicts  of  Life 
end. 

At  the  Sepulchres  of  our  Departed  we 
may  learn  the  Value  of  Life. 

The  Sepulchre  proclaims  the  Evil  of 
Sin. 

The  Sepulchres  of  our  Departed  ad- 
monish us  to  be  gentle  and  kind  to 
the  Living. 

Posthumous  Fame.  —  The  Sepulchre 
instructs  us  how  to  Live,  so  as  to  be 

T    remembered  when  Dead. 

The  Repose  of  the  Holy  Dead. 

The  Sepulchre  reminds  us  of  the  Value 
and  Immortality  of  the  Soul. 


The  Hope  of  Resurrection  divests  the 
Sepulchre  of  its  Terrors,  and  brings 
Consolation  to  the  Bereaved. 

The  Indestructibility  of  the  Family 
Bond  a  source  of  Consolation  to  the 
Bereaved. 

At  the  Sepulchres  of  our  Departed  we 
may  also  learn  the  Right  which  God 
holds  in  us  and  our  Families. 

Future  Recognition. 

The  Sympathy  of  Jesus  with  afflicted 
and  bereaved  souls. 

Our  Present  and  our  Future  Home. 

Darkness  turned  to  Light,  or  the  Uses 
we  should  make  of  afflictions  and 
bereavements. 

Grave-yards  and  Cemeteries,  or  the 
Claims  of  the  Dead  upon  the  Living, 
and  the  Care  which  should  be  be- 
stowed upon  the  Places  of  their  Re- 
pose. 


One  Volume,  12mo.    Price,  $1  00. 


LINDSAY  &    BLAKISTON 

PUBLISH  THE 

AMERICAN  FEMALE  POETS 

•WITH 

BIOGRAPHICAL  AND  CRITICAL  NOTICES, 

BY 
CAROLINE   MAY.  

AH  ELEGANT  VOLUME,  WITH  A  HANDSOME  VIGNETTE  TITLB, 
.AND 

PORTRAIT  OF  MRS.  OSGOOD, 
The  Literary  contents  of  this  work  contain  copious  selections  fron. 

the  writings  of 

Anne  Bradstreet,  Jane  Turell,  Anne  Eliza  Bleccker,  Margarett* 

V.  Faugeres,  Phillis  Wheatley,  Mercy  Warren,  Sarah  Porter, 

Sarah    AVentworth    Morton,    Mrs.    Little,    Maria    A.    Brooks, 

Lydia  Hnntley  Sigourney,  Anna  Maria  "\Vtlls,  Caroline  Gil- 

man,  Sarah  Josepha  Hale,  Maria  J  times,  Jessie  G.  M'Cartee, 

Mrs*  Gray,  Eliza  Follen,   Louisa  Jane   Hall,  Mrs*  Swift, 

Mrs*  E.  C.  Kinney,  Marguerite  St.  Leon  Loud,  Lnella  J. 

Case,  Elizabeth  Bogart,  A.  D.  Woodbridge,  Elizabeth 

Margaret  Chandler,  Emma  C.  Embury,  Sarah  Helena 

Whitman,  Cynthia  Taggart,  Elizabeth  J.  Eames, 

Ac.  &c.  <tc. 

The  whole  forming  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  highly  cultivated  state  ol 

the  arts  in  the  United  States,  as  regards  the  paper,  topography, 

and  binding  in  rich  and  various  styles. 

EXTRACTS  FROM  THE  PREFACE. 

One  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  the  present  age 
j  the  number  of  female  writers,  especially  in  the  department 
.-f  belles-lettres.  This  is  even  more  true  of  the  United 
States,  than  of  the  old  world ;  and  poetry,  which  is  the  lan- 
guage of  the  affections,  has  been  freely  employed  among  us 
to  express  the  emotions  of  woman's  heart. 

As  the  rare  exotic,  costly  because  of  the  distance  from 
which  it  is  brought,  will  often  suffer  in  comparison  of  beauty 
and  fragrance  with  the  abundant  wild  flowers  of  our  mea- 
dows and  woodland  slopes,  so  the  reader  of  our  present 
rolume,  if  ruled  by  an  honest  taste,  will  discover  in  the  effu- 
sions of  our  gifted  countrywomen  as  much  grace  of  form, 
and  powerful  sweetness  of  thought  and  feeling,  as  in  the 
blossoms  of  woman's  genius  culled  from  other  lands. 


HAVE    RECENTLY   PUBLISHED 


THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT, 


REV.  THEOPHILUS  STORK,  D.D. 


'Of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." — 2 
"  How  oft,  heart-sick  and  sore, 
I've  wished  I  were,  once  more, 
A  little  child." — MKS.  SOUTHET. 


CONTENTS, 


INTRODUCTION. — THE    WONDERS    OP 
BETHLEHEM. 

The  "  Holy  Child  Jesus."  The  Child- 
hood and  Youth  of  Christ.  The  De- 
vout Simeon,  with  the  Infant  Saviour 
in  his  arms.  Jesus  among  the  Doc- 
tors in  the  Temple.  The  sympathy 
of  Christ  with  little  children.  The 
beauty  of  childhood.  Poetical  quo- 
tations from  Wordsworth. 

LITTLE   CHILDREN   BROUGHT   TO   THE 
SAVIOUR. 

Explanation  of  the  scene  in  Mark  x. 
13,  14.  The  Disciples'  conduct. 
The  probable  reasons  of  their  inter- 
ference. The  Saviour's  displeasure 
at  their  conduct.  His  affectionate 
welcome  to  children.  How  parents 
now  may  prevent  children  from 
going  to  Christ.  An  earnest  dis- 
suasive from  such  deportment.  The 
importance  of  example.  The  influ- 
ence of  the  home-spirit.  The  posi- 
tive duty  of  bringing  our  children 
to  the  Saviour. 

THE    CHILDREN  IN  THE   TEMPLE. 

Explanation  of  the  temple-scene,  Matt. 
xxi.  15,  16.  The  hosanna  of  the 
children.  The  displeasure  of  the 
priests  and  scribes.  The  Saviour's 
vindication  of  the  children.  Ps. 
viii.  2,  explained.  The  importance 
of  early  impressions.  Reformation. 


National  education.  Sunday  schools. 
Pacts,  showing  that  children  trained 
in  religion  will  become  the  cham- 
pions of  truth  and  virtue.  Beautiful 
visions  of  the  future. 

TIMOTHY. 

His  early  religious  education.  The 
influence  of  maternal  piety.  Eunice 
an  example  for  the  imitation  of  mo- 
thers. The  "child  father  of  the 
man."  Instruction  and  piety  com- 
bined. Encouragement  ta  pious 
mothers. 

THE   INFANTICIDE   AT   BETHLEHEM. 

Explanation  of  the  scene.  Seeming 
incongruity.  Vindication  of  Divine 
Providence,  in  the  massacre  of  the 
infants.  Infant  martyrs.  The  scene, 
suggestive  of  the  following  topics  : 

1.  The  death  of  little  children.  Sources 
of  consolation.    Providence.    Infant 
salvation. 

2.  Mission  of  children.     The  advent 
of  a  little  child  in  the  family.     The 
child  at  home.     The  sick  and  dying 
child.     The  memory. 

3.  Children  in  heaven.     Beautiful  as- 
pect of  the  heavenly  home. 

4.  Recognition.       Difficulties   of  the 
doctrine.     Scriptural  aspect  of  the 
subject.    David.    Recognition  of  the 
loved  and  lost  in  heaven. 

Conclusion. 


One  neat  12mo.  Volume,  Cloth,  gilt.    Price,  75  cents. 


LINDSAY  &    BLAKISTON 

PUBLISH  THE 

BRITISH    FEMALE    POETS: 

WITH 

BIOGRAPHICAL  AND  CRITICAL  NOTICES, 

BY 
GEO.    W.    BETHUJVE. 

LN    ELEGANT  VOLUME,   WITH   A   HANDSOME   VIGNETTE    TITLB, 

AND 

PORTRAIT  OF  THE  HON.  MRS,  NORTON. 

The  Literary  contents  of  this  work  contain  copious  selections  from 

the  writings  of 

Aiiuc  Boleyii,  Countess  of  Arnndel,  Q,ueeu  Ellzcil)f< U,  Duchess  <>t 

No  wen  stlc,  Elizabeth  Carter,  Mrs.  TigUe,   Miss  Hannah   More* 

Mrs.  Hemims.  Lady  Flora  Hastings,   Mrs.  Amelia   <>;>!<•,    Mlas 

Eliza  Cook,  Mrs.  Southcy,  Miss  Lowe,  Mrs.  Norton,  Elizabeth 

1J«  Barrett,  Catharine  Parr,  Mary  Qiieen  of  Scots,  Countess 

of  Pembroke,  Lady  Mary  \Vortley  Montague,  Mrs.  Gro« 

villc,  Mrs.  Barbauld,  Joanna  Baillie,  Letitia  Elizabeth 

London,  Charlotte  Elizabeth,   Mary  Ritssell   Mitford, 

Mrs.  Coleridge,  Mary  Howitt,  Frances  Kcmble  Butlor, 

<fcc.  &.c.  die. 

The  whole  forming  a  beautiful  specimen  of  the  highly  cultivated  state  of 

the  arts  in  the  United  States,  as  regards  the  paper,  typography, 

and  binding  in  rich  and  various  styles. 

OPINIONS    OF   THE    PRESS. 

In  the  department  of  English  poetry,  we  have  long  looked  for  a  spirit  cast  in  nature's  finest,  yel 
most  elevated  mould,  possessed  of  tlie  most  delicate  and  exquisite  taste,  the  keenest  perception 
cf  the  innate  true  and  beautiful  in  poetrv,  as  opposed  to  their  opposites,  who  could  give  to  us  a 
pure  collection  of  the  Uritish  Female  Poets ;  many  of  them  among  the  choicest  spirits  that  ever 
graced  and  adorned  humanity.  The  object  of  our  search,  in  this  distinct  and  important  mission. 
is  before  us;  and  we  acknowledge  at  once  in  Dr.  Bethune.  the  gifted  poet,  the  eloquent  divine, 
and  Hie  humble  Christian,  one  who  combines,  in  an  eminent  degree,  all  the  characteristics  above 
alluded  to.  It  raises  the  mind  loftier,  and  makes  it  purified  with  the  soul,  to  float  in  an  atmosphere 
of  spiritual  purity,  to  peruse  the  elegant  volume  before  us,  chaste,  rich,  and  beautiful,  without  and 
within.— The  Spectator 


It  is  handsomely  embellished,  and  may  be  described  as  a  casket  of  gems.  Dr.  Bethune,  who  a 
kimself  a  poet  of  no  mean  genius,  has  in  this  volume  exhibited  the  most  refined  taste.  The  work 
•ay  be  regarded  as  a  treasury  of  nearly  all  the  best  pieces  of  British  Female  Poets. — Inquirer. 


Dr.  Bethune  has  selected  his  materials  with  exquisite  taste,  culling  the  fairest  and  sweetoet 
I owers-from  the  extensive  field  cultivated  by  the  British  Female  Poets.  The  brief  Biographical 
Notices  add  much  interest  to  the  volume,  and  vastly  increase  i(s  value.  It  is  pleasant  to  find  HsjO- 
»o:liing  and  close-thinking  divines  thus  recreating  themselves,  and  contributing  by  their  recrea- 
tions to  the  refinement  of  the  age.  Dr.  Bethune  has  brought  to  iiis  task  poetic  entnusiawn,  and  t 
*ady  perception  01'  the  pure  ami  beaut-fui  —N.  Y.  Commercial 


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